<s>
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
is	O
a	O
Linux	B-Application
distribution	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
KDE	B-Application
based	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
long-term	O
support	O
(	O
LTS	O
)	O
releases	O
,	O
bundled	O
with	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
additional	O
software	O
repositories	O
containing	O
the	O
latest	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
Plasma	B-Language
5	I-Language
desktop	O
environment/framework	O
,	O
Qt	B-Language
5	I-Language
toolkit	I-Language
and	O
other	O
compatible	O
KDE	B-Application
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
announced	O
in	O
June	O
2016	O
by	O
Kubuntu	B-Application
founder	O
Jonathan	O
Riddell	O
following	O
his	O
departure	O
from	O
Canonical	O
Ltd.	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
been	O
adopted	O
by	O
a	O
steadily	O
growing	O
number	O
of	O
Linux	B-Application
users	O
,	O
regularly	O
appearing	O
in	O
the	O
Top	O
20	O
on	O
com	O
's	O
popularity	O
tables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
offered	O
in	O
stable	O
and	O
development	O
variants	O
;	O
the	O
User	O
Edition	O
is	O
a	O
stable	O
release	O
featuring	O
the	O
latest	O
KDE	B-Application
packages	O
that	O
have	O
passed	O
their	O
quality	O
assurance	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
Testing	O
,	O
Unstable	O
,	O
and	O
Developer	O
Edition	O
branches	O
use	O
the	O
latest	O
beta	O
and	O
unstable	O
nightly	O
releases	O
of	O
KDE	B-Application
packages	O
(	O
the	O
last	O
of	O
which	O
bundled	O
with	O
KDE	B-Application
development	O
libraries	O
and	O
headers	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
Kubuntu	B-Application
has	O
the	O
KDE	B-Language
Plasma	I-Language
suite	O
on	O
an	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
base	O
OS	B-General_Concept
,	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
often	O
is	O
mistaken	O
for	O
Kubuntu	B-Application
and	O
vice	O
versa	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
primary	O
difference	O
between	O
the	O
two	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
is	O
that	O
Kubuntu	B-Application
maintains	O
stable	O
releases	O
and	O
LTS	O
version	O
of	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
while	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
focuses	O
on	O
updating	O
developer	B-Application
editions	I-Application
of	O
KDE	B-Application
applications	B-Application
without	O
maintaining	O
stable	O
releases	O
of	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
unless	O
the	O
root	B-Application
user	I-Application
actively	O
chooses	O
to	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
their	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
forces	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
update	O
the	O
distro	O
with	O
PackageKit	B-Language
package	O
instead	O
of	O
Advanced	B-Application
Packaging	I-Application
Tool	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
approach	O
prevents	O
possible	O
issues	O
during	O
the	O
KDE	B-Application
packages	O
update	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Four	O
laptops	O
have	O
been	O
released	O
with	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
pre-installed	O
:	O
KDE	B-Application
Slimbook	O
(	O
released	O
in	O
March	O
2017	O
)	O
,	O
KDE	B-Application
Slimbook	O
II	O
(	O
2018	O
)	O
,	O
KDE	B-Application
Slimbook	O
III	O
(	O
2020	O
)	O
and	O
KDE	B-Application
Slimbook	O
IV	O
(	O
2022	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
first	O
started	O
taking	O
shape	O
in	O
late	O
2015	O
as	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
provide	O
a	O
rolling	O
release	O
of	O
KDE	B-Application
software	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
's	O
stable	O
OS	B-General_Concept
base	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
images	O
were	O
based	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
15.10	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
April	O
of	O
2016	O
,	O
upgrades	B-General_Concept
to	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
16.04	O
,	O
which	O
would	O
eventually	O
become	O
the	O
base	O
for	O
the	O
first	O
general	O
release	O
,	O
which	O
happened	O
on	O
8	O
June	O
2016	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
announced	O
in	O
January	O
2017	O
that	O
the	O
distribution	O
will	O
be	O
switching	O
its	O
installer	O
from	O
Ubiquity	B-Language
to	O
Calamares	B-Language
due	O
to	O
Ubiquity	B-Language
"	O
not	O
having	O
some	O
features	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2018	O
,	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
developers	O
removed	O
the	O
LTS	O
Editions	O
from	O
the	O
downloads	O
page	O
,	O
but	O
kept	O
these	O
editions	O
in	O
the	O
download	O
mirrors	O
because	O
of	O
"	O
lots	O
of	O
people	O
asking	O
which	O
edition	O
to	O
use	O
and	O
what	O
the	O
difference	O
is.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
2018	O
,	O
KDE	B-Application
started	O
changing	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
from	O
being	O
based	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
16.04	O
to	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
18.04	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
preview	O
images	O
,	O
based	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
18.04	O
,	O
became	O
available	O
in	O
August	O
2018	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
10	O
August	O
2020	O
,	O
KDE	B-Application
released	O
a	O
rebased	O
version	O
of	O
KDE	B-Language
Neon	I-Language
,	O
based	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
20.04	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
is	O
primarily	O
a	O
packaging	O
of	O
KDE	B-Application
software	O
(	O
and	O
occasionally	O
updated	O
dependencies	O
)	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
LTS	I-Operating_System
,	O
its	O
versions	O
are	O
simply	O
numbered	O
off	O
the	O
Plasma	O
release	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
some	O
notable	O
versions	O
of	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
User	O
Edition	O
are	O
listed	O
below	O
to	O
show	O
technical	O
progression	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Version	O
Release	O
date	O
Description	O
8	O
June	O
2016	O
Based	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
16.04	O
base	O
,	O
using	O
Plasma	O
5.6	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
considered	O
a	O
general	O
release	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
26	O
September	O
2018	O
neon	O
5.13	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
built	O
both	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
16.04	O
and	O
on	O
18.04	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
released	O
in	O
June	O
of	O
2018	O
based	O
only	O
on	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
16.04	O
,	O
but	O
early	O
tests	O
based	O
on	O
18.04	O
were	O
made	O
available	O
in	O
August	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	O
edition	O
was	O
made	O
upgradeable	O
to	O
18.04	O
in	O
September	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
early	O
2019	O
the	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
16.04	O
based	O
build	O
was	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
12	O
February	O
2019	O
Alongside	O
the	O
5.15.0	O
release	O
of	O
KDE	B-Language
Plasma	I-Language
,	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
upgraded	B-General_Concept
to	O
version	O
5.15	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
this	O
point	O
,	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
started	O
making	O
KDE	B-Application
applications	B-Application
available	O
in	O
Snap	B-Application
format	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
the	O
usual	O
deb	O
packages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
also	O
helps	O
make	O
it	O
easier	O
to	O
install	O
the	O
latest	O
KDE	B-Application
applications	B-Application
on	O
other	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	I-Application
without	O
needing	O
to	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
other	O
components	O
such	O
as	O
KDE	B-Application
frameworks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
KDE	B-Language
Neon	I-Language
still	O
uses	O
apt	B-Application
based	O
packages	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
snap	B-Application
packages	I-Application
are	O
built	O
and	O
maintained	O
using	O
the	O
neon	O
build	O
system	O
and	O
their	O
packaging	O
is	O
part	O
of	O
the	O
neon	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
9	O
June	O
2020	O
After	O
upgrading	B-General_Concept
to	O
KDE	O
Plasma	O
5.19	O
,	O
neon	O
began	O
the	O
work	O
of	O
porting	O
to	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
20.04	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
testing	O
,	O
the	O
public	O
release	O
of	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
officially	O
switched	O
over	O
to	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
20.04	O
on	O
10	O
August	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
13	O
October	O
2020	O
The	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
5.20	O
was	O
released	O
alongside	O
KDE	B-Language
Plasma	I-Language
in	O
October	O
of	O
2020	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
this	O
was	O
a	O
major	O
release	O
for	O
KDE	B-Language
Plasma	I-Language
,	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
did	O
n't	O
have	O
any	O
major	O
technical	O
changes	O
other	O
than	O
the	O
version	O
upgrade	B-General_Concept
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
16	O
February	O
2021	O
The	O
latest	O
edition	O
of	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
was	O
released	O
alongside	O
KDE	B-Language
Plasma	I-Language
in	O
February	O
of	O
2021	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
9	O
June	O
2021	O
14	O
October	O
2021Plasma	O
-	O
25th	O
Anniversary	O
Edition	O
on	O
kde.org	B-Application
8	O
February	O
2022Plasma	O
5.24	O
-	O
Perfect	O
Harmony	O
on	O
kde.org	B-Application
14	O
June	O
2022Plasma	O
5.25	O
-	O
New	O
Looks	O
on	O
kde.org	B-Application
11	O
October	O
2022Plasma	O
5.26	O
-	O
All	O
About	O
the	O
Widgets	O
on	O
kde.org	B-Application
Base	O
update	O
to	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
22.04	O
LTS	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
14	O
February	O
2023Plasma	O
5.27	O
-	O
The	O
'	O
KDE	B-Application
💖	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
 '	O
Edition	O
on	O
kde.org	B-Application
Desktop	O
Environment	O
update	O
to	O
Plasma	O
5.27	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Fresh	O
installation	O
images	O
are	O
built	O
regularly	O
,	O
grabbing	O
the	O
latest	O
packages	O
from	O
Ubuntu	B-Operating_System
and	O
the	O
latest	O
packages	O
from	O
the	O
KDE	B-Language
neon	I-Language
repositories	O
.	O
</s>
