New functionality for nimble Linux desktop, Razor-qt

Razor-qt in action
Source: razor-qt.org

Version 0.5.0 of the Razor-qt desktop environment is now available and brings with it changes to the configuration of themes, new plugins and a new notification daemon. The relatively young, lean desktop is based on the Qt framework, but in contrast to KDE, is able to run on low-spec hardware. While development of Razor-qt is still at an early stage, the desktop already includes all the key components: a desktop with a panel, application launcher, a settings centre and session management.

Razor-qt aims to be uncluttered, fast and easy to use. New features in version 0.5.0 include the addition of a daemon for desktop notifications and support for configuring various keyboard shortcuts. The development team has given the login manager, LightDM, a custom look in the form of the Razor LightDM Greeter. The desktop includes a new notepad widget and includes "huge performance optimisations". The Razor Control Center has been revamped and the desktop theme can now be selected easily from a new dialogue box.

Further plugins have been added to the desktop panel, including a volume control applet with ALSA and PulseAudio backends, a colour picker and CPU, network and temperature monitors. The Razor-Runner application launcher is now able to launch virtual machines in VirtualBox.

Further information on the changes and new features can be found in the change log. Razor-qt 0.5.0 is available to download from the project's web site; packages for several Linux distributions including Ubuntu, openSUSE, Fedora and Arch Linux are available from the relevant package repositories.

(crve)