Work on the next major elementary OS release is ongoing, and developer Daniel Foré is sharing a sneak peek at the new features that are coming this year to elementary OS 5.0 Juno.

Last month, we reported that elementary OS Juno would sport a new versioning scheme, which means that it will be versioned 5.0 instead of 0.5 as many users might have expected, and will be based on Canonical's upcoming Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) operating system.

And now, we're finally getting a sneak peek at elementary OS Juno's new features, which include animated system panel indicators, new installer and Initial Setup wizard, updated default apps, nearly full HiDPI support, and the long-anticipated Night Light feature so you won't have eye strain.

"This frequently asked for feature will make its debut in Juno! There’s a new Night Light tab under the Displays settings to let you turn the feature on, set its schedule, and adjust the color temperature," said Daniel Foré. "We’ve also added a handy indicator that shows up during the scheduled time."

A search icon (accessible with the Super + Space keyboard shortcut) is now available next to the Applications menu for quick searching of installed apps, the panel has two translucent modes, dark and light, full-screen apps will now blend into the panel, and System Settings received improved password creation and/or validation.

A better laptop experience, updated apps, and more

If you plan on installing elementary OS Juno on a laptop, you should know that the operating system will offer you a much-improved experience starting with the Applications menu, which will only scroll one page per trackpad swipe, and distro-agnostic detection of hardware components for displaying relevant power settings.

Talking about power settings, the Power indicator will now display the battery percentage if you middle-click the panel icon, as well as the right total percentage for devices with multiple internal batteries. Users will also be able to disable middle-click paste and make the laptop's touchpad work even when typing.

The keyboard settings were improved as well with a new popover for the keyboard layout selection, and there's now a Rotation Lock setting in the Displays pane. Other than that, there will be a new portal detection feature via NetworkManager to let you configure a captive portal server, and support for mobile broadband devices.

Last but not least, several of the default apps have been updated to their latest versions from the GNOME Stack, including Photos, Music, and Terminal. They all bring brand-new features that you'll love, and elementary OS 5.0 Juno promises to come with numerous other optimizations and bug fixes for a better user experience.

Night Light

New color schemes for Terminal

Night Light settings