elementary OS 8 Has a Big Surprise in Store
When elementary OS 8 finally arrives, it will not only be based on Ubuntu 24.04 but it will also default to Wayland for better performance and security.
Elementary OS has long been a favorite of mine. For years, it was my go-to Linux distribution, which came to a halt when I purchased my first System76 Thelio desktop. Even so, I've admired the work that goes into the OS from afar.
And with the upcoming release, the development team plans to finally shift to the Wayland display server by default.
This has been a long time coming because Wayland is far superior and more secure than X.org.
Wayland isn't the only change coming to elementary OS 8. According to the team's recent blog, version 8 of the OS will also include the continued transition to GTK 4.
So far, the Captive Network Assistant, Initial Setup, and Videos app have already made the transition (in their respective development branches) and the port for the AppCenter is almost done.
The System Settings app and the indicator area will also see some major changes, making them both more modern and responsive. As well, the development team is considering an immutable version of elementary OS, adding Pipewire, replacing the onscreen keyboard, and even reevaluating the SystemD boot.
Of course, not everything will make it into version 8, but it looks like the team has their work cut out for them.
If you'd like to get early access to daily builds, you can do so by becoming an elementary OS sponsor on GitHub.
