Gnome 44 is upon us. Many Gnome fans have tested the beta version and found it to be the perfect next step for the open-source desktop environment. And with the projected release of March 22, 2023, this release candidate arrives at the perfect time.

Surprisingly, however, the development team has added a few changes to the desktop. No, these are not new features but more bug fixes and cleanups.

For example, the team has added a bit more polish to the Epiphany web browser. There is also direct support for Wayland's factional_scale_v1. What this means is that you'll be able to set fractional scaling for multiple monitor setups.

You'll also find new options in the Quick Settings menu, such as a list of currently connected Bluetooth devices. As well, the Quick Settings menu will now include a Screenshot button and a background apps list.

The expanding folders feature was removed in Gnome 43, but, thanks to a demanding community, it was added back for the Gnome 44 release candidate.

Other changes include: the Gnome Settings Daemon goes to sleep after 15 minutes of inactivity, the Gnome Control Center mouse and touchpad section has been slightly revamped, a good amount of code cleanup was done for the GDM login manager, Gnome Boxes now allows the creation of virtual machines without first selecting an operating system info entry, and Gnome Music now uses less memory when running in the "Songs" view.

Read more about the Gnome 44 release candidate here.