We already told you the other day when we reported the availability of new development releases of GNOME Software and GTK+ that the GNOME developers are currently preparing to unleash the first Beta version of the GNOME 3.24 desktop.
Since yesterday, a lot more apps and core components from the GNOME Stack have appeared on the project’s FTP servers, including the Nautilus file manager, which is used by default in numerous Linux-based operating systems that use the GNOME Stack, including Ubuntu, Fedora Workstation, Solus, and many others.
Until today, Nautilus 3.24 hasn’t received any development version for the upcoming GNOME 3.24 desktop environment, which already got four snapshots bringing many improvements that GNOME fans will be able to enjoy when GNOME 3.24 is to be released this spring, on March 22.
So this is Nautilus 3.24’s first development release, the Beta, which adds a large number of improvements, starting with a new keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Enter) to allow users to open a selected folder in a new window or the ability to open a new Nautilus window in the same location as the current view via a new Ctrl+N keyboard shortcut.
Talking about keyboard shortcuts, it also looks like Nautilus 3.24 Beta introduces a new Ctrl+M alternate shortcut for laptops that ship without the F (Function) key, thus allowing users to rename files or folders. Additionally, the unsued Ctrl+B keyboard shortcut has been removed and it’s now possible to manage menus with the keyboard.
Nautilus now allows you to open folders without permission
Another interesting feature that was implemented in today’s Nautilus 3.24 Beta release is the ability to open folders without permissions, only by using the admin backend and polkit. Furthermore, Nautilus will now warn users when attempting to use desktop files from unknown sources.
Among other improvements, we can mention that the operation of button animations was updated to no longer display the operations popover, the Nautilus and GTK+ settings are now always in sync to be able to sort folders first, a better empty state is used for the trash, and metadata will now be set only when it’s necessary.
The progress reporting of copying operations and the trash was also improved, and it looks like the toolbar menu will no longer disappear when toggling the “Hidden files” menu item. Ultimately, Nautilus 3.24 will allow users to select entire names when renaming folders and feature an experimental icon view based on flow box.
The application icon was updated in this first development version and several crashes and annoyances fixed. For your reading pleasure, we’ve attached the full changelog below, and you can download the Nautilus 3.24 Beta source tarball right now from our website if you plan on getting an early taste of all these goodies. Happy testing!
