KDE neon


KDE neon is a Linux distribution developed by KDE based on the most recent Ubuntu long-term support release, bundled with a set of additional software repositories containing the latest 64-bit versions of the Plasma 5 desktop environment/framework, Qt 5 toolkit and other compatible KDE software. First announced in June 2016 by Kubuntu founder Jonathan Riddell following his departure from Canonical, it has been adopted by a steadily growing number of Linux users, regularly appearing in the Top 20 on DistroWatch.com's popularity tables. It targets the same user demographic as Ubuntu's official KDE Plasma-focused distribution, Kubuntu, differing primarily in the much shorter time-frame for users to receive updated Qt and KDE software. It is offered in four release channels: User, Testing, Unstable and Developer Editions.
The KDE neon Linux distribution is focused on the development of KDE. The emphasis is on bleeding edge software packages sourced directly from KDE and offers programmers early access to new features, but potentially at the cost of greater susceptibility to software bugs.
KDE neon announced in January 2017 that the distribution switching its installer from Ubiquity to Calamares due to Ubiquity "not having some features".
In February 2018, KDE neon developers removed the LTS Editions from the downloads page, but kept these editions in the download mirrors because of "lots of people asking which edition to use and what the difference is."
In May 2018, KDE started changing KDE neon from being based on Ubuntu 16.04 to Ubuntu 18.04. KDE neon preview images, based on Ubuntu 18.04, became available in August 2018.

Differences from Kubuntu

Because Kubuntu has the KDE Plasma suite on an Ubuntu base OS, KDE neon often is mistaken for Kubuntu and vice versa. However, the primary difference between the two operating systems is that Kubuntu maintains stable releases and LTS version of Ubuntu while KDE neon focuses on updating developer editions of KDE applications without maintaining stable releases of Ubuntu unless the root user actively chooses to upgrade their systems.

Hardware

KDE Slimbook and KDE Slimbook II have KDE neon pre-installed.