Pour one out for the Linux homies: Fedora 40 released
Fedora Linux 40 has officially landed (download here), bringing a slew of updates across its various desktop environments and tools aimed at enhancing user experience and developer capabilities. This release delivers updates to both the GNOME and KDE desktop environments, and the reintroduction of the Fedora Atomic Desktop brand.
In the Fedora Workstation Edition, users will now experience GNOME 46. This update includes a variety of enhancements that aim to improve usability and performance. Those interested in the specifics of what’s new in Fedora Workstation 40 can find detailed updates and features highlighted in the release notes.
For fans of KDE, Fedora 40 is not stepping back. The KDE Spin has been updated to include KDE Plasma 6, which now supports Wayland by default, promising a smoother and more stable experience. Detailed improvements and additional features in the KDE Spin can be explored further in the dedicated release section.
Fedora is also embracing a new branding for its ostree or image-based provisioning variants under the name “Fedora Atomic Desktop.” This rebranding aims to better represent the technology’s capabilities and includes Fedora Silverblue and Fedora Kinoite, along with new additions like Fedora Sway Atomic and Fedora Budgie Atomic.
On the development tools front, Fedora Linux 40 introduces its first-ever PyTorch package, a popular framework for deep learning that typically requires specific versions of drivers and libraries for optimal performance. Currently, the package supports CPU operations, with plans to extend support to GPU and NPU accelerations in future releases. Additionally, this release includes ROCm 6, an open-source software that enhances support for AMD graphics cards, further boosting development capabilities in AI and machine learning.
As with every release, Fedora 40 has undergone extensive updates with improved compilers and libraries that contribute to bug fixes, security enhancements, and performance gains. The collective effort of hundreds of Fedora packagers and testers integrates the latest versions of open-source software from thousands of upstream projects, showcasing the commitment of the Fedora community.
Fedora 40 also comes with important release-day bugfix and security updates. Users upgrading from previous Fedora releases will receive these updates automatically, while new installations will require a manual check to ensure all updates are applied.