Enlightenment 0.28 Released with Improved Networking Support
Enlightenment 0.28 is out, marking the desktop environment’s first major release since early 2025. The update brings a lengthy list of improvements to networking, audio, usability and hardware support, along with many bug fixes.
A new Network Manager module lets users manage wireless, wired and Bluetooth connections, as well as VPNs. It also displays connection details such as signal strength and security.
For audio, the release adds a native PipeWire mixer alongside the existing PulseAudio mixer. Mixer controls can now cycle through audio sinks and switch output devices.
A built-in clipboard history module keeps a semi-persistent record of copied items. Users can choose what to track, how long to keep it, whether it should carry over between sessions, and when to clear it.
The update also improves support for portable devices, including battery charge limits to help protect battery health, kernel-provided ACPI CPU power profiles, and more frequent resource polling.
Other changes include fixes and refinements to window management, pointer handling, focus selection, and monitor DDC and EDID detection. Support for per-desktop and per-screen profiles has been removed.
Installing Enlightenment 0.28 on Ubuntu
You can download the source code and build the release manually. Enlightenment 0.28 requires EFL 1.29.0 or later, which must also be built.
Ubuntu 26.04 includes an older Enlightenment version in its software archives, available through apt. For those who prefer not to build from source, scripts are available for several Ubuntu releases:
- Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: eeminent
- Ubuntu 24.04 LTS: equivoke
- Ubuntu 22.04 LTS: elluminate
Enlightenment is a modular desktop environment built with the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries. It includes its own window manager, compositor, desktop shell, and native apps such as a file manager, photo viewer and terminal.
Its distinctive look and modular approach may not suit everyone, but Enlightenment is lightweight and highly configurable without being bare-bones.