BenQ released a Linux version of its Display Pilot 2 software at the end of 2025, but I only heard about this week when reading about the launch of the company’s revamped coding monitor. Priced at $699/£599, the BenQ RD280UG is a 28-inch, 3:2 monitor with ‘nano matte’ panel. It runs a 4K+ (3840×2560) resolution at a 120 Hz refresh rate. Also available are a number of monitor-level features controlled by the official Display Pilot 2 software. Display Pilot 2 has been available on Windows and macOS for a while – on macOS it allows keyboard brightness keys to control […]
A new version of free video editor OpenShot has been released, with the app’s developers calling it as one of the ‘biggest releases’ ever in its 18-year history. OpenShot 3.5 ships with a new default timeline (it had been available to test in earlier builds). This offers the same functions as before (zooming, scrolling, editing, etc), along with a new keyframe panel, but is said to be ‘faster’ than before. Indeed, the app in general, effect and frame processing especially, is said to be as much as 35% faster than before. Sure, it sounds impressive, but it is against a […]
Linux users can now install Opera GX, a gaming-centric spin off of the regular Opera web browser that includes a bunch of gaming-focused extras, like Razer Chroma integration. A Linux version of Opera GX is in the works, according to a tweet posted to the official X account. The company announced the plans via a snarky post linking to news article on Microsoft adding an AI sidebar to Windows 11’s file manager, writing: “Is this a good time to announce that we are working on the Linux version of Opera GX?”. As good a time as any, I’d say. The company provide official DEB […]
Chances are Ubuntu boots so fast you rarely get time to stare at the boot screen, but if you’re somehow able to slow time down, there’s a new boot spinner to enjoy in 26.04 LTS. The new animation reuses the sunburst-come-tail from the official Resolute Raccoon mascot, albeit without a bemused Raccoon face staring back at you like he climbed in the washing machine and is now stuck on a spin cycle. Ubuntu’s developers also bumped the frame count used for the boot spinner to 60 slides, which allows for a full sweep of what is quite an intricate animation. […]
GNOME 50 is out today, bringing a new set of features to the open-source desktop environment that Ubuntu uses. The latest release, codenamed “Tokyo”, turns Variable Refresh Rate , an expanded set of parental controls, and hardware accelerated Remote Desktop sessions. The document viewer also gains ‘digital ink’ and form filling tools. Ubuntu users will get GNOME 50 as part of Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, which is out in April 2026. New Features in GNOME 50 VRR and fractional scaling on by default GNOME 50 enables Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) support by default (on compatible hardware). This is arguably the headline […]
Mozilla has announced that a free, built-in VPN is coming to Firefox later this month. Firefox’s free VPN will offer 50 gigabytes of monthly data, which is pretty generous for a browser-based VPN. A Mozilla account is required to make use of it, which isn’t a hardship (they’re free), but is a point of friction some may wish to know upfront. This is not a full-device VPN; Firefox VPN only protects traffic inside of the browser, not data sent outside. It won’t rival the flexibility and security benefits of a full-featured VPN, like server switching to access geo-restricted streaming services […]
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is refreshing its folder icons with a squatter shape and more colourful design – if past icon changes are anything to go by, not everyone is going to be thrilled. These restyled icons are but one of many visual changes to land in Ubuntu 26.04 ‘Resolute Raccoon’ daily builds recently. There’s also redesigned icons for LibreOffice, an ‘accent adaptive’ Calculator icon, and a shell theme that tacks closer to vanilla GNOME. But it’s the change to folder icons that most will have strong feelings over. Here’s a reminder of how Yaru’s folder icons look (with the default […]
A public beta of Orion for Linux, a WebKit-based web browser from paid search engine Kagi, is now available for testing. For those unfamiliar with it, Orion is a privacy-focused web browser available for macOS and iOS. Kagi announced plans for a Linux port last year, with subscribers to its Orion+ support tier getting access to Linux alpha builds in January. Now comes a build that anyone can try. In an update shared with followers of its Linux newsletter, the company says: “We know many of you have been eagerly waiting for a chance to try Orion Browser on Linux, and […]
Some (not exactly subtle) changes on Firefox’s official social media accounts indicate that the browser is about to get a new logo – or a reputation for attention seeking. Avatars on the browser’s official social media accounts have changed from the familiar Firefox logo to an empty purple ‘globe’, which is the centre of the normal logo, sans the orange, flamed-tailed fox usually wrapped around. If you don’t quite see it, this animated reelshared on the Firefox Instagram account makes it much easier to see: Mozilla hasn’t explicitly said “a new logo is coming”, but it acknowledged its fox-less avatars […]
The stable release of GIMP 3.2 is now available to download for all major desktop operating systems, Linux included. A year in the making, GIMP 3.2 brings a raft of long-awaited features that users of the famed open-source image editing tool will appreciate like non-destructive Link Layers, quick creation of Vector Layers from paths, and a better dynamic painting experience. “We’re happy to present the first release of GIMP 3.2,” the team says of the release, which has been a year in the making and is part of a new ‘streamlined’ release process: GIMP 3.2 is out a year after GIMP 3.0. That […]
Google has announced that Chrome is finally coming to ARM64 Linux devices this year. If you currently run Ubuntu or another Linux distribution on an ARM-based device, like the Raspberry Pi or a Snapdragon X Elite laptop, etc, you’ve had no official Google Chrome build available, only Chromium, the open-source project on which Chrome is based. The lack of an official Google Chrome ARM build for Linux has always been puzzling given that Chromium supports ARM, and lots of Chromebooks are ARM-based. Well, today (12 March, 2026) the search giant announced its proprietary browser is winging its way to Linux […]
I recently updated Firefox’s beta build and noticed that the new AI-powered ‘Smart Window’ feature is looking a lot more fully-formed than last time I tried it. This feature is, as I’m sure you’re aware, part of Mozilla’s pivot to AI in Firefox. An AI kill-switch was added in Firefox 148, but the new AI-powered ‘smart mode’ is intended to juice Mozilla’s bottom-line and upend the traditional way of web browsing. None of what follows is finished or complete. I could only get Firefox Smart Window to work using a macOS beta build (v149.0b7). That is why the screenshots below […]
Qualcomm subsidiary Arduino has announced the VENTUNO Q, a new single-board computer that ships with Ubuntu pre-installed. This isn’t a board aimed at casual makers or tech tinkerers bored with their Raspberry Pi, but catering to the demands of AI workloads at the edge: robotics, industrial automation, computer vision. The Ventuno Q is built around Qualcomm’s Dragonwing IQ-8275 processor with CPU, GPU and NPU, which delivers 40 TOPS of AI compute to run large language models, visual language models and computer vision workloads on-device. It comes with 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM – double what you get on the comparable Jetson Orin […]
A big update to Ghostty terminal emulator has dropped, delivering a raft of new features like scrollback search, native scrollbars and and process completion notifications. Ghostty 1.3.0 packs in 6 months of development effort: 2,800+ commits from 180 contributors. As well as new features there are hundreds of performance tweaks, bug fixes and platform optimisations for those using it on macOS, Linux and FreeBSD (Ghostty isn’t available on Windows). But it’s features most of you will care about, and this update to the Zig-based open-source terminal sees a couple of long-requested ones arrive. You can now search your terminal scroll […]
HandBrake, the free and open-source video transcoder, has dropped its first major release of 2026 – with new professional encoders, MOV output container and a clutch of Linux changes on offer. Those of you who work to production standards will find the DNxHR and ProRes encoder support in HandBrake 1.11.0 the star addition. Both offer a range of presets, including standard, high-quality, and proxy variants at resolutions up to 4K. The new ProRes and DNxHR encoders, listed as “Production ProRes” and “Production DNxHR”, can output in a MOV container, new with this release. ProRes is most associated with Apple and, […]
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