KDE neon has published a fresh daily build that pulls in Plasma 6.7.3, Frameworks 6.28.0, and Gear 26.04.3 on top of an Ubuntu 24.04 LTS foundation. The update delivers the headline 21-year feature request of per-screen virtual desktops, alongside a quick light and dark mode toggle, improved SMB printing, and simultaneous HDR plus ICC color management. Theming gets a major refresh with the return of the Oxygen suite and a tech preview of the new CSS-based Union engine, which currently affects Plasma and Qt components. Available across desktop, mobile, and Bigscreen variants, the build targets users who want unmodified, bleeding-edge KDE software without the wait of a traditional distribution release cycle.

KDE neon ships fresh daily build with Plasma 6.7.3 and a host of new features

KDE neon published a new daily build today, the 20260723-0523 ISO, and it pulls in KDE Plasma 6.7.3 right alongside Frameworks 6.28.0 and Gear 26.04.3. If you've been waiting to run the latest KDE desktop on a rolling base, the fresh images are live now.

The build runs on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. That base went in back in October 2024, when the old 22.04 foundation started tripping over PipeWire and Krita compatibility. Since then, neon's build servers have been churning out fresh images daily. You get upstream KDE packages with barely a delay. No cherry-picking. No LTS holdbacks.

What's actually new in Plasma 6.7

Plasma 6.7 shipped in June, and this build absorbs everything through the July 14 bugfix release. The headline change after 21 years is per-screen virtual desktops. Each physical monitor can now hold its own independent set of workspaces. Not bad for a feature request that's been lingering since the KDE 4 days.

There's also a quick light/dark mode toggle in Global Themes, a system tray that finally respects the Flatpak background apps protocol, and better printing support for SMB-shared Windows printers. If you've ever wished your desktop could test your mic volume without putting a call through to someone, that's in here too.

Theming gets a serious update. Oxygen, the KDE 4 default theme, is finally caught up to Breeze. Air, the light Oxygen variant, is back as well. Neon also ships a tech preview of Union, an all-new CSS-based theming engine that currently affects Plasma, QtQuick, and QtWidgets. It's off by default, but you can flip it on with the union package if you're curious.

HDR and ICC color management now play nice together instead of fighting. AMD laptop brightness curves got a red-shift control, and Intel integrated GPU performance saw some real-world tweaks. Discover, the app store, got a redesign with bigger install buttons and grouped app cards. Honestly, it's one of the more noticeable UI overhauls in recent years.

Keep in mind that neon isn't the official KDE distribution. KDE works with dozens of upstream distros, and neon exists to give technical users direct, unmodified access to the latest desktop stack. The build includes desktop, mobile, and Bigscreen variants across the User, Testing, and Unstable tracks. Developer images with libraries round out the options.

The price of sticking with a rolling ISO on top of an LTS base is always a tradeoff between freshness and long-term stability. It's arguably competing with rolling distros like openSUSE Tumbleweed and Arch, though the Ubuntu foundation does give you a longer support cycle underneath. The lack of upstream kernel and library bleeding edge is a real constraint, but for pure Plasma and Gear coverage, you won't beat the freshness here.

All ISOs come with PGP signatures. You can grab them directly from the neon download page. If you're tracking Plasma 6.7 specifically, the latest release notes and bugfix details live over at the KDE announcements archive. The build is also quietly dedicated to Eric Laffoon, a longtime KDE supporter who passed away in May, which feels like a fitting touch for software that thrives on community.