GNOME 47 “Denver” proved to be a decent update to the GNOME desktop, delivering a healthy dose of new features, UI improvements, and application enhancements.

Like those of you who use Ubuntu 24.10 undoubtedly appreciate it.

But as one version comes out, work on the next one begins…

GNOME 48: release schedule

GNOME 48′Bengaluru‘ (named after the host city of the GNOME Asia Summit taking place in December) is scheduled for release on March 19, 2025.

And these are the dates of important development milestones along the way, providing the opportunity to implement, add and integrate changes, the “freeze” necessary to solidify the desired package to be delivered in the stable release, then additional tests to refine and perfect the new features:

• GNOME 48 (Alpha) – January 4, 2025
• GNOME 48 (beta) – February 1, 2025
• Freezing API, ABI, Features and UI – February 1, 2025
• GNOME 48 (release candidate) – March 1, 2025

The final stable version of GNOME 48 will be released on March 19, 2025.

Of these dates, the beta is notable because the feature freeze in the Ubuntu 25.04 release schedule falls on this date, so around the time those using daily Ubuntu 25.04 builds can expect until GNOME 48 components start to appear – always an exciting milestone.

It’s also worth noting that GNOME 48.1 is ready to be released on April 12, 2025. The first point release in a new GNOME series is always welcome, fixing stray bugs, rough edges, and minor tweaks to improve newly added features and applications.

GNOME 48: what to expect?

It’s too early to know what new features GNOME 48 will offer because, well, everything is still being planned, discussed, and decided.

That said, we can make some guesses in the meantime.

We may make some of the changes that were originally planned for GNOME 47 but that, for various reasons, were delayed or postponed to allow for more in-depth discussions and refinements, such as this proposed change. change the default font has Between.

GNOME 48 also provides another opportunity for Canonical’s Daniel van Vugt to land his long-awaited performance-enhancing tool. triple buffer support In Whisper upstream.

Elsewhere, GNOME Shell is likely to build on what was added in 47, with notification bundling being a likely possibility given that work has been underway for some time, and we’ll no doubt see coverage of the Accent colors extended to more places in the shell. User interface.

GNOME 48’s core apps will certainly offer an improved feature set – but what? Again, it’s too early to know (as you read this), but there are discussions about bringing a tab layout functionality (like that of GNOME Web) has Nautilus.

In the meantime, Settings plans a new “Wellbeing” panel to bring up pause reminder options and make the networking panel more comprehensive by integrating advanced mobile network configuration options, better VPN support, and more .

Magnifying glass The image viewer will offer improved zoom controls and behavior – that’s confirmed – but RAW support and basic image editing (like cropping) have been mooted – compelling additions that could help persuade Ubuntu to adopt the application in the Brave puffin!

Elsewhere, Show timeGNOME’s modern media player, could graduate from Incubator playground to take over the role of multimedia actor of Totem (he’s staying a competent understudy even while waiting).

All of the things mentioned above are TBC, TBD and DBM (don’t blame me). No firm commitments, only indications resulting from a glance at the current state of development, such as recent and proposed mergers, ongoing discussions and developer blog posts.

GNOME 48 will take a more assured form over the coming months, so stay tuned for updates on what changes might make an impact in Ubuntu 25.04, which arrives next year.

What are your hopes for GNOME 48? Is there a feature or improvement you would like to see? A small tweak that would make a big difference to your workflow? Share it in the comments!