KDE will release Plasma 6.8 on October 14, its 30th anniversary. The update drops the X11 desktop session, making Wayland the only option, though X11 applications still run through XWayland. The beta also continues work on the Union theme engine, which now styles QtWidgets apps such as Dolphin and Kate, and polishes the revived Oxygen theme.
For users who prefer an older look, the new Klassik project recreates the KDE 3 desktop experience using Qt 6, Qt Quick, and KDE Frameworks 6, with Wayland and fractional scaling support. It is not a fork but a reimplementation of the early-2000s panel, K Menu, Quicklaunch, task manager, and clock.
Klassik joins several existing forks preserving older KDE versions. Trinity maintains its own Qt3 fork, Sonic keeps X11 in KWin, MiDesktop revives KDE 1, and Katana forks KDE 4 though it has been inactive for three years. KDE is also marking the anniversary with a feature-length documentary.