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Manjaro 26.1 "Bian-May" Released With GNOME 50, KDE Plasma 6.7, and Linux 7.1

Manjaro 26.1 "Bian-May" arrives with Linux 7.1, GNOME 50, KDE Plasma 6.7, and a hardware compatibility change that will catch some NVIDIA users off guard.

linux

— 3 mins read

Manjaro 26.1 “Bian-May” is out, and project lead Philip Müller confirmed in the official Manjaro forum announcement that the release is now stable. The update ships three major desktop environment options: GNOME 50, KDE Plasma 6.7, and Xfce 4.20, paired with Linux kernel 7.1 and over 1,000 updated packages across the distribution.

GNOME 50 brings a notable set of feature additions, including parental controls, variable refresh rate improvements, NVIDIA performance boosts, and HDR screen sharing — a combination that addresses both gaming workflows and content-creation use cases that have historically lagged on Linux desktops. KDE Plasma users get version 6.7.4, while Xfce 4.20 rounds out the options for those who prefer a lighter environment. Phoronix’s coverage confirms all three desktop environments ship in this release.

The kernel story is worth noting on its own terms. Manjaro 26.1 defaults to Linux 7.1, which Linuxiac reports is the successor to 7.0 after that version reached end of life. For users on older or more conservative hardware, Phoronix confirms that Linux 6.18 LTS and 6.12 LTS are also available, which gives the distribution a broader kernel compatibility story than some of its rolling-release peers.

The NVIDIA side of this release introduces a breaking change that will affect anyone running Pascal-era hardware. NVIDIA’s 590 driver series drops support for the GeForce GTX 10-series and older, meaning those users need to switch to the legacy 580xx driver branch to keep their GPUs functional under the new kernel. It’s the kind of hardware obsolescence that tends to catch people off guard — a driver update that silently moves your perfectly functional card into a legacy bracket.

Rounding out the release, Manjaro ships Python 3.14 and over a thousand updated packages — a volume that tracks with the project’s rolling-release model, where each point release is less a fresh start and more a checkpoint of accumulated updates brought to a tested state. The combination of GNOME 50’s feature set, the kernel move to 7.1, and the NVIDIA driver shift makes this a release with a few sharp edges, but for most users updating from recent Manjaro versions, Bian-May looks like a straightforward stabilization milestone.

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