We are pleased to announce the availability of the GNOME and XFCE editions of the Synex semi-rolling line, completing the three desktop variants planned for this branch. Along with the now-updated KDE Plasma edition, all three images follow the Debian testing repositories and receive continuous updates with the latest software versions available.
GNOME
The GNOME edition features GNOME Shell 49.5 with Mutter 49.4 and GDM3 49.2. Starting with GNOME 49, the native X11 session was removed from the upstream project. To maintain the ability to use X11 when needed, this edition includes GNOME Flashback 3.58, which provides a functional X11 session based on the classic GNOME panel. Users requiring X11 (for example, for compatibility with specific applications or virtualization setups) can select the GNOME Flashback session from the GDM login screen.
XFCE
The XFCE edition brings the complete 4.20 series (xfwm4 4.20, xfce4-panel 4.20.7, xfce4-session 4.20.4, Thunar 4.20.8) with LightDM as display manager.
KDE Plasma updated
The KDE Plasma image is updated to Plasma 6.6.3, a significant jump from the 6.5.4 in the previous image.
Common components
All three editions share the same system base: kernel 6.19.13, Mesa 26.0.4, PipeWire 1.6.4, systemd 260, ZFS 2.4.1, Firefox ESR 140.9, and Calamares 3.4.2 with calamares-settings-synex 1.0.22. The Synex toolset (synex-center, synex-cleaner, synex-firmware-helper, synex-lvm-setup) and full ZFS support via DKMS are present in all three images.
Considerations
Being based on Debian testing, this edition receives packages that have not yet gone through the full stabilization cycle of Debian stable. This allows access to more recent software, but implies that changes or adjustments between updates may occasionally occur. For environments where stability is a priority, the stable edition of Synex remains the recommended option.
Availability
All three ISO images are available for immediate download from SourceForge.
Download from here.