<p>GNOME 50, codenamed Tokyo, is out now and will ship as the default desktop in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (April 2026) and Fedora Workstation 44.</p>
<h2>X11 is gone</h2>
<p>The biggest structural change: GDM no longer offers an X11 session. You can’t log into X11 anymore. X11 apps still run fine through XWayland, but the session itself is Wayland-only. This has been coming for a while, and GNOME 50 is where it finally lands.</p>
<h2>Display improvements</h2>
<p>Variable refresh rate (VRR) and fractional scaling both graduate from experimental to enabled by default on compatible hardware. There’s also a low-latency cursor mode during VRR, which should feel noticeably better on high-refresh displays.</p>
<p>HDR support continues to improve - screen sharing now works with HDR content, and GNOME 50 implements Wayland color management protocol v2. NVIDIA users get explicit sync support, frame timing fixes, and better discrete GPU detection, which addresses some of the rougher edges that made Wayland on older NVIDIA hardware frustrating.</p>
<h2>Nautilus file manager</h2>
<p>Thumbnail loading is now handled by the Glycin image library, which loads progressively and uses less memory than before. Search gets multi-filter support, so you can combine file type, date, and name filters at once. Batch rename now shows a visual preview before you commit. Case-insensitive path completion is also new.</p>
<h2>Parental controls</h2>
<p>Screen time limits and bedtime schedules are now available for child accounts. A web filtering backend is in place too, though the full UI for that is still coming.</p>
<h2>Orca screen reader</h2>
<p>This is a significant overhaul. Orca gets global settings, automatic language switching, a redesigned preferences window, and Wayland Mouse Review mode. If you rely on a screen reader, this release is worth paying attention to.</p>
<p>There’s also a new Reduced Motion toggle in accessibility settings for users who find animations uncomfortable.</p>
<h2>Document viewer</h2>
<p>Evince gains ink drawing and free text annotation tools. You can now draw directly on PDFs and fill in non-interactive form fields - something that’s been missing for a long time.</p>
<h2>Calendar</h2>
<p>The Calendar app is redesigned with a proper attendee list, ICS export, keyboard navigation improvements, and a first-day-of-week setting.</p>
<h2>Remote desktop</h2>
<p>Remote desktop sessions now support GPU hardware acceleration via Vulkan and VA-API, plus HiDPI scaling and camera redirection. Kerberos authentication is also supported now.</p>
<h2>Shell and GTK</h2>
<p>The shell adds a power mode indicator and screen time controls in the system area. GTK 4.22 renders SVGs natively, dropping the Librsvg dependency.</p>
<p>One thing that didn’t make it: session save and restore has a working backend, but the UI toggle is pushed to GNOME 51.</p>
<h2>New apps</h2>
<p>Gradia (screenshot annotation) and Constrict (video compression) join GNOME Circle in this release.</p>


Collections

GNOME 50, codenamed Tokyo, drops X11 session support entirely — GDM now only offers Wayland sessions, though X11 apps still run via XWayland. Key display improvements include VRR and fractional scaling enabled by default, HDR screen sharing, Wayland color management protocol v2, and better NVIDIA support with explicit sync. The Nautilus file manager gains progressive thumbnail loading via Glycin, multi-filter search, and batch rename previews. Orca screen reader receives a major overhaul with global settings, automatic language switching, and Wayland Mouse Review mode. Other highlights include parental controls with screen time limits, Evince PDF annotation tools, a redesigned Calendar app, GPU-accelerated remote desktop via Vulkan and VA-API, and GTK 4.22 with native SVG rendering. GNOME 50 will ship as default in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and Fedora Workstation 44.

GNOME 50 released: Wayland-only, better Nvidia support, and parental controls