Only one real question for me - did they lose that ugly and counterintuitive CSD nonsense yet? I’m not giving up reading and working left-to-right and top-to-bottom anytime soon… 
a few of my flat packs got some libadwaita updates, I think it looks great although it looks like it needs the new dark mode setting of 42 to enable dark mode maybe… looks really good IMO
And for all users who are using Flatpak versions of GNOME apps;
GTK_THEME=Adwaita:dark
Most GNOME applications don’t have a toggle for dark mode, and many of us will be running systems who don’t have GNOME 42 Shell yet. So, you’ll run into some eyestrain inducing applications when mixing GTK+3 and GTK4 apps.
By adding this property to the Flatpak environment (see Flatseal) you’ll be able to have a consistent dark theme.
Source : r/linux - Reddit
I don’t currently use any Flatpaks (I used to a lot on PopOS/Solus), but Flatseal is a must if you do to change individual app permission settings.
My curiosity got the best of me and I installed it from the ‘unstable’ repo, it’s easy to roll back so why not… so far so good, really really like the overall look
I’m going to have to work out how to do make a switching background I reckon, even though i never use light mode
1 Like
frame rate on the video looks choppy switching between light/dark in reality it’s super smooth
The screenshot tool is great as well
1 Like
OK that was pretty easy
3 Likes
I have ~12 extensions, a custom theme and icons installed, the default stuff in 41 rubbed me the wrong way. I don’t like how 42 looks either, too flat and rounded. I really find the the top bar useless. Also read that there is a new font rendering and it doesn’t work well on every setup.
I read that arch will be one of the first distros to get it. If I understood correctly 42 will break themes and extensions? If yes, how can I block the 42 update until my customizations will be compatible with 42? I just don’t want to accidentally update gnome components with -Syu.
Attached my current desktop on 41.
1 Like
I’ve read there are ways to override the theme, I’ve not looked into it as I like it as it is…
Similar with extensions most of the big ones get updated pretty quick
If you’re customising to this extent have you considered trying KDE?
3 Likes
The easiest way is to not update for a short time to give everything a chance to get fixed. There’s no simple way to update everything else without breaking things. One way you’ll likely break extensions and themes, the other way, you’re likely to break everything else. No one supports or recommends partial updates.
1 Like
Looking at what extensions I have installed only one is marked as incompatible, I don’t use many of them
2 Likes
KDE is a bit too much 
I would spend too much time fiddling with all the settings. I would set it how GNOME generally is anyway, I like the minimalism. Tbh dash to panel is the only visual extension I need. I like using apps fullscreen, and I need something with autohide on the left side.
I just wish I could blacklist packages somehow from updating. But I can see that that can get complicated. So I will only update a few stuff manually for a while.
I have been running G42 from the “official” release date by using the fcgu repo on eOS and has worked fine.
I usually use the Colloid-theme and its icons and those seem to work fine on Gnome 42.
the changes to GNOME42 will be massive … it could be that a lot of things will not work after this and it could be they never will work again in the same way.
This time the biggest change is about theming and I would bet it will not change back to what you are used to now 
gtk3 will be called legacy theming…
1 Like
I doubt Arch is getting it too soon. Last few Gnome releases have been 2-4 weeks later on Arch till first point release. The GNOME maintainer generally isn’t in some rush to push new releases with major changes.
I haven’t had extension problems on major versions with Arch for some time assuming the extension isn’t Dead.
i’d put money it releasing around the same time a fedora, I swear they let them work out the kinks
Somewhere around April 20th I agree, that’s Ubuntu and Fedora Release with Gnome 42. Let the bugs work out and prep the packages for a nice roll out I say.
3 Likes
I’ve noticed some odd things with the beta release when it comes to window management - dragging a window causes a huge spike in lag for me. For example, if I’m in a call in Discord and drag a window, the audio starts to break. There is also a pretty significant delay in drawing the position change as well.
Not sure what’s up with that, doesn’t seem to be causing a CPU usage spike and occurs even with all extensions disabled - oddly enough, the overview animation is buttery smooth haha.
That’s all to say though, that it shows why there is a testing period for major releases like this.
Gotta say though, GTK 4 and libadwaita's styling is quite nice, major props to the Gnome team!
Edit: Seems like it might be Thunderbird causing the performance drop, wasn’t expecting that one…
I gave gnome42 a try from testing repo. The main problem I have with it is the new theme resp. libadwaita approach. The gnome apps are no longer usable for me with other DEs, like XFCE, because they do not follow any theme anymore. They look like foreigners now in XFCE. eog, gnome-boxes, gnome-books, etc.
I started to like gnome. But this is a major step into isolation for gnome from my point of view.
2 Likes
No, no, you misunderstand. GNOME knows best - so your Xfce theme should match GNOME applications, not the other way round!
2 Likes
I had planned to try out GNOME again with version 42. But if I follow all this, I’ll save myself the trouble and stay loyal to Plasma.
2 Likes