GNOME 47 Denver transforms the Linux desktop with new features and improved performance

The latest version of the GNOME desktop environment, GNOME 47, is now available, introducing several enhancements and user-focused improvements. This release, nicknamed “Denver,” honors the organizers of GUADEC 2024 and represents six months of dedicated work by the GNOME community.

One of the standout features in GNOME 47 is the addition of accent colors, allowing users to customize the blue interface with a range of alternative hues. Another key enhancement is better support for lower-resolution screens, ensuring that app icons and UI elements are more visible and easier to interact with. GNOME 47 also introduces hardware encoding for screen recording, optimizing performance on Intel and AMD GPUs, and making it easier to capture screencasts without impacting system responsiveness.

File management has also been upgraded, with the Files app receiving a major overhaul. A new “Network” view makes browsing remote file locations easier, while the ability to remove sidebar items provides more customization. Additionally, new file dialogs offer more functionality, such as zooming and sorting, and are now consistent with the Files app.

GNOME 47 also brings improvements to Online Accounts, including better integration with Microsoft 365 accounts and the automatic discovery of WebDAV services. Meanwhile, GNOME Web has introduced automatic form filling and redesigned bookmarks, although Firefox Sync has been disabled.

Users can expect this release to be available in their favorite Linux distributions soon, or they can try it out via GNOME OS in a virtual machine.