When KaOS Linux dropped KDE Plasma, I worried – now I’m loving the new default desktop
When KaOS Linux dropped KDE Plasma, I worried – now I’m loving the new default desktop
https://www.zdnet.com/article/kaos-linux-distro-replaces-kde-plasma-desktop-default/
Publish Date: 2026-03-10 23:00:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- KaOS Linux no longer defaults to KDE Plasma.
- In Plasma’s place is the scrollable tiling Niri.
- KaOS is free to install and use.
Over the years, I’ve watched Linux distributions make all sorts of changes — some that made sense and some that didn’t. So when I read that KaOS was dropping the KDE Plasma desktop in favor of Niri (which I’d never heard of), I thought, “Hoo boy, this marks the beginning of the end.”
I was wrong. Niri is actually pretty cool.
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What is KaOS?
KaOS, according to the developer’s website, is a “rolling and transparent distribution for the modern desktop, built from scratch with a very specific focus — focus on one DE (desktop environment), one toolkit (Qt), one architecture (x86_64).”
That DE is Niri, a scrollable, tiling compositor. Unlike most tiling window managers, Niri tiles all windows in a horizontal plane, which you can scroll left or right to find the window you want to work with.
It’s much cooler than it sounds.
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Picture this: You’ve opened an app on Niri. That first app opens on the left half of the screen. Open a second app, and it appears on the right side of the first app. Open a third app, and it appears to the right of the second app, bumping the first app off the screen to the left.
Now, click on the titlebar of the second app and drag it to the right to reveal the first app. You can click and drag windows left or right to find the one you’re looking for.
You can scroll left or right to find the app you want to use.
Screenshot by Jack Wallen/ZDNET
It’s like having both a tiling and standard window manager rolled into one, and I like it.
No matter what KaOS does beneath the desktop environment, it’s Niri that takes center stage for this latest release.
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