We are pleased to announce new Synex Semi-rolling images, available in KDE Plasma, GNOME, XFCE, and COSMIC editions. This update continues the work on the Debian testing-based branch, maintaining coherence with the rest of the Synex ecosystem. As a maintenance update, no major changes were introduced beyond bringing the base up to date and updating COSMIC.
COSMIC 1.3.0
The COSMIC edition advances to version 1.3.0, the latest released by System76 for its next-generation desktop developed in Rust. This version consolidates the work of previous series and incorporates improvements across the entire set of components: the compositor, the panel and applets, the settings center, the application store, and the environment's own applications.
The edition maintains the Synex visual identity applied out of the box: orange accent throughout the system, Inter and Hack typefaces, custom wallpaper, and dock with Synex shortcuts, along with dark theme coherence in third-party GTK applications. As in previous versions, the COSMIC packaging for Debian and Synex remains publicly and reproducibly available in the cosmic-synex repository on GitHub.
Updated components
The new images share an updated base on Debian testing / Forky. Main components include Linux kernel 7.1.3, systemd 261.1, OpenSSL 3.6.3, Mesa 26.1.4, PipeWire 1.6.8, WirePlumber 0.5.15, Firefox ESR 140.12.0, and Flatpak 1.18.0. The installer remains based on Calamares with calamares-settings-synex 1.0.29, and Synex Package Manager is included in version 1.2.2.
The KDE Plasma edition includes Plasma Desktop 6.6.5, KWin 6.6.5, and KDE Applications 26.04.0 such as Dolphin, Konsole, Ark, Kate, and Gwenview. The GNOME edition incorporates GNOME Shell 50.2, GDM3 50.1, Nautilus 50.1, and GNOME Control Center 50.1. The XFCE edition remains on the XFCE 4.20 series, with xfce4-panel 4.20.7, xfce4-session 4.20.4, xfwm4 4.20.0, and Thunar 4.20.8. The COSMIC edition is based on COSMIC Epoch 1.3.0.
Considerations
The Semi-rolling branch is intended for users who want newer versions of the desktop environment, kernel, and system components. Since it is based on Debian testing, it may receive more frequent changes than the stable edition and may occasionally require adjustments between updates. In the particular case of COSMIC, it is a young desktop in active development, so features under evolution may be found. For environments where long-term stability is the priority, the Synex stable branch remains the recommended option.
Availability
The new Synex Semi-rolling images for KDE Plasma, GNOME, XFCE, and COSMIC are available for download from SourceForge. As always, we recommend verifying the checksums of downloaded images before creating the installation media.
Download Synex Semi-rolling here.