KDE Sets First Hard X11 Deadline, Pressuring Linux Desktop Ecosystem

KDE will end Plasma X11 support in early 2027, with Plasma 6.8 becoming Wayland-exclusive. This marks the first major desktop environment to announce a definitive X11 retirement date. GNOME has prioritized Wayland but stopped short of a comparable timeline. The move eliminates deferral—users and organizations can no longer indefinitely avoid migration, potentially forcing broader ecosystem alignment on Wayland-only releases.