Elementary OS 8 Gets Updated Dock, Window Manager, More

Elementary has been updating its user-friendly Linux distribution more frequently this year, and this week there’s a new set of changes, with Elementary OS 8.x getting improvements to the Dock, window manager, System Settings, and more.

“Questionable puns aside, it’s Pride Month and we’re excited to celebrate by bringing you these updates hand-made by real LGBTQIA+ community members from around the world, and possibly some straight cis folks too,” Elementary founder and CEO Danielle Foré writes. “This rainbow of releases includes some important accessibility updates, tons of bug fixes, and of course a few new features.”

Here’s what’s new.

• Dock improvements. The Dock brings back two features from the old Plank, long-press access for context menus and the “…” indicator for apps that have multiple open windows; you can drag to one of these app icons and hold to cycle through the available windows.
• Window manager improvements. There’s a new Gesture Controller that lets you swipe up in Multitasking view to close windows, and app titles in Multitasking view are always visible so they’re accessible to those using touch. There are also about 20 bug fixes.
• System Settings improvements. Elementary made many quality improvements and bug fixes to System Settings, addressing issues with the Applications Menu, dark/light mode configuration, and Display Settings. And there are new animation configurations in Reduce Motion settings.
• Other improvements. Elementary also made improvements to Notifications, Shortcut overlays, Flatpack, location services, and the GNOME Web browser. And there are a variety of security, bug, and translation fixes.

Previous to this, Elementary shipped Elementary OS 8.0 back in November and then added a big hardware compatibility upgrade in version 8.0.1 in March. What I missed, however, was a May update that added improvements to Quick Settings, System Settings, and AppCenter, plus some early access to new features that might arrive in stable in 8.1 or 9.0. Those interested in Elementary OS early access can sponsor the project for as little as $2 per month.

You can learn more on the Elementary OS website.