Manjaro Linux 26.0 Anh-Linh RC4 released

Manjaro Linux 163 Published 2026-01-03 07:50 by Philipp Esselbach

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The fourth release candidate for Manjaro Linux 26.0, known as Anh-Linh RC4, has been released. This update includes various improvements, such as an updated Plasma desktop environment (version 6.5) and GNOME 49, as well as an updated Mesa driver and Vulkan SDK for enhanced graphics performance. Additionally, the system stack has been refreshed with a new real-time Linux kernel series (6.17-rt), and several applications have been updated under the hood, including Firefox and Thunderbird. Users who rely on packages from the Arch User Repository may need to rebuild certain packages due to changes in Python libraries, but Manjaro provides tools and guidance for this process.

Manjaro Linux 26.0 Anh-Linh RC4 released

The fourth release candidate for Manjaro Linux 26.0 is now available.

At its core is the updated Plasma desktop environment, now featuring version 6.5. But there's more: this build includes GNOME 49 as well, so if you fancy exploring that alternative desktop feel or workflow, it's available to test right now.

For tech enthusiasts digging into graphics performance and Vulkan capabilities, things are also fresh here. The Mesa driver has been updated to version 25.3.1, and the Vulkan SDK is now at 1.4.328.1, a refresh that could be good news for gaming or creative work.

The system stack itself saw action too: welcome the new real-time Linux kernel series, 6.17-rt, especially if you were still on the older 6.16 release (which has now reached end-of-life). Other key components like firmware and binutils have been rebuilt alongside this core update.

Most applications look functional in this build, but there are several updates implemented under the hood: Xorg Server is at 21.1.21, Firefox gets a boost with both its stable version (145.0.2) and beta cycle (146.0b8), Thunderbird heads towards its major update to 145.0, and there's ongoing work integrating GNOME further, specifically arriving at version 49.2 for this preview.

The desktop environment had some changes: LXQt matured to version 2.3.0, Plasma itself reached 6.5.3, KDE Frameworks bumped its number to 6.20.0, and Manjaro's own KDE Gear hit the 25.08.3 milestone.

Multimedia support was also given a look-over: GStreamer moved from version 1.26.8 to 1.26.9, PipeWire audio got its turn with 1.4.9 (beneficial for users), and Qt progressed to the latest stable at 6.10.1.

System tools rolled out too: systemd is now using a newer codebase from version 257 downwards, mkinitcpio has been updated recently, Grub is testing its latest release candidate (2.14rc4), Dracut reached version 108 in this build, and the package offers security updates courtesy of Certbot (version 5.1.0).

One important consideration for users relying on packages from the Arch User Repository is that Manjaro's transition means some may need to be rebuilt because they were compiled against older Python libraries specifically designed to interface with system tools; now those libraries are using Python 3.13 instead.

If you're wondering if your specific AUR package is affected, check out pacman -Qoq /usr/lib/python3.12/ followed by a useful command: pamac build $(pacman -Qoq /usr/lib/python3.12); this will rebuild all the dependent packages automatically.

Alternatively, if you just want to see what might need updating without triggering a rebuild, run checkrebuild. And sometimes getting rid of local build cache entries beforehand helps smooth things out using commands like pamac clean --build-files.

Elsewhere, users can grab a fresh build of the Manjaro Control Panel. Thanks to updates in development toolchains for Haskell and Python, everything should operate more smoothly behind the scenes.