The GNOME Project has kicked off its next big chapter with GNOME 49 Alpha. This early build is obviously not meant for everyday use, but it gives a clear look at where the popular Linux desktop environment is heading. And spoiler alert, some longtime apps are getting the boot.
Totem, Evince, and Devhelp are officially being replaced. GNOME has promoted three newer apps out of the Incubator to take their place. Showtime is now the default video player, Papers handles documents and PDFs, and Manuals will serve as the go-to for developer documentation. These replacements are more in line with GNOME’s current design philosophy and toolkit.
The move away from older software continues under the hood too. X11 sessions are now disabled by default across GNOME. That change alone might rattle some folks, especially those still hanging on to legacy setups. But it’s not exactly surprising. GNOME has been preparing for a post-X11 world for years, and this move sets the stage for dropping X11 entirely in GNOME 50.
Image handling is also getting a refresh. Gdk-Pixbuf now includes a new loader based on Glycin. This change is all about memory safety and sandboxing. It is a quieter update but a big deal from a security perspective.
GDM will soon require systemd-userdb, and GNOME Session will remove its fallback session handling to rely fully on systemd. These changes are expected to land in 49 Beta and were flagged in the release notes as important infrastructure moves.
A bunch of apps have been bumped to 49 Alpha builds, including GNOME Shell, Nautilus, Calculator, Maps, and more. A few packages like Totem and Devhelp have been removed outright. But not everything got updated. Some apps like GNOME Weather, GNOME Disks, and GNOME Boxes remain on older versions for now.
You can try GNOME 49 Alpha using the official GNOME OS install image if you are feeling adventurous. Just keep in mind this is very much a developer snapshot. Bugs are to be expected and stability is not guaranteed. That said, for those curious about the direction GNOME is taking, it is a good way to preview the changes.
More updates will roll out with GNOME 49 Beta later this summer. Until then, users and developers can dig into the latest changes and provide feedback.
