NixOS 24.11 “Vicuña” released with Linux kernel 6.6 LTS, GNOME 47, KDE Plasma 6.2 and more

NixOS has unveiled its latest version, 24.11, code-named Vicuña, featuring numerous enhancements, bug fixes, and security updates. The release is powered by the Linux 6.6 LTS kernel series, ensuring long-term support.

This update introduces GNOME 47, which brings accent colors, support for small screens, and hardware encoding for screen capture. KDE Plasma 6.2 is also included, offering numerous bug fixes and adjustments. The update enhances support for Darwin within Nixpkgs and improves the management of multiple LLVM versions, with LLVM updated to version 19 while GCC remains unchanged.

NixOS 24.11 includes the Nix 2.24 package manager, which offers various improvements and fixes, alongside support for AMD's open-source Vulkan driver, AMDVLK. It also introduces HDR support for the Moonlight game streaming client and a new systemd.enableStrictShellChecks option. The release ships with the Xen 4.19.0 hypervisor, and support for UEFI system booting, among other enhancements and bug fixes.