Debian Linux 13, nicknamed “Trixie” after the Triceratops character who first appeared in Toy Story 3, releases August 9, 2025. If you’re curious what the release holds in store, here a few of the big changes you can expect in Debian 13.
Kernel 6.12 LTS Is Here
The Linux kernel in Debian 13 is being upgraded from kernel 6.1 to 6.12. The 6.1 kernel was an LTS release that debuted in late 2022, and since then the kernel has introduced features like open source Nvidia support, RISC-V hibernation, and QR codes for DRM kernel panic messages.
There are many other improvements to filesystems like EXT4 and Btrfs, plus the addition of support for Bcachefs. You’ll also find new standards like Wi-Fi 7, MIDI 2.0, and USB4 v2.0 added to the kernel.
Kernel 6.12 is a long-term support kernel with bug fixes promised until December 2026.
32-Bit Debian Is Going Away (Mostly)
Debian has long been known as a steadfast supporter of i386, a 32-bit architecture. Unfortunately for those still in ownership of these aging CPU types, that support is going away with Trixie. The architectures it’ll support include amd64 (what most everyday people are using), arm64, armel, armhf, ppc64el, riscv64 (more on this later), and s390x.
If you need to run i386 software, you can still do that on a modern x86_64 PC with multiarch packages. That software is increasingly rare, though, as development projects have increasingly moved on from i386.
If your issue is a hardware and not a software issue, the Debian team issued this advice:
Users running i386 systems should not upgrade to trixie. Instead, Debian recommends either reinstalling them as amd64, where possible, or retiring the hardware. Cross-grading without a reinstall is a technically possible, but risky, alternative.
64-Bit RISC-V Support
Debian 13 is also the first version to fully support RISC-V hardware. Specifically, it supports RISC-V processor with a 64-bit architecture. That’s generally all the processors you’re going to find out there, like the VisionFive 2 board. Debian joins the ranks of Fedora and openSUSE in supporting the open source architecture.
Storage
SD card slot
CPU
StarFive JH7110
This single board computer kit features the StarFive JH7110, an open source RISC-V U74 quad-core processor. It also has a GPU that can kit 600Mhz for graphics processing, and multiple ports and pins for connectivity and experimenting.
RISC-V has come a long way since the instruction set was published in 2010. Unlike x86 and ARM, anyone is free to design and manufacture RISC-V processors, and as they’ve proliferated in the enthusiast world, Linux distros have followed suit. There are projects building on top of the OSes and making the experience better, like felix86, which is enabling AAA gaming on RISC-V.
GNOME 48 Has Arrived
Debian 13 is shipping with the GNOME 48 desktop environment, a significant upgrade from the three year-old GNOME 43 that Debian 12 shipped with. GNOME 48 arrived in March 2025, and Debian adding it means you’ll be getting access to the desktop environment’s digital wellbeing dashboard, better notifications, and a battery health preservation tool.
GNOME 48 also brings with it several graphics-based improvements. There are new image-editing features built-into the GNOME image viewer, and you get experimental support for RAW image filetypes.
KDE Plasma Reaches Version 6.3
Another popular desktop environment, KDE Plasma, is being upgraded from version 5.27 to 6.3. We wrote about it when Plasma 5.27 was released back in February 2023, so it’s been a while. This version of Plasma debuted in February 2025, so we’re jumping forward exactly two years.
If you plan on installing Debian 13 with KDE, some highlights include better support for graphics tablets, improved fractional scaling, and more sane notifications. There are also of course a ton of bug fixes and hardware optimizations included.
This is the upgrade I’m probably most excited about, as I’ve turned into a sucker for the KDE Plasma experience.
Lightweight Desktop Xfce Is Now at 4.20
If you prefer to keep your Linux device minimal in its resource usage, the go-to desktop reccommendation is often Xfce. This desktop environment got upgraded from 4.18 to 4.20, which doesn’t sound significant until you realize that 4.18 arrived in December 2022. Between those point releases, a lot of development happened, especially for Xfce’s Thunar file browser, which got additions like faster search results, more sane launcher options, and a new list view.
Xfce 4.20 also adds experimental support for the Wayland compositor, high-res scrolling, and hybrid sleep mode. Display settings got reworked, and so did the screen lock menu. You’ll also find in Debian 13 with Xfce that the Appfinder experinece has been improved with several small new features and tweaks.
To learn more, head to the Xfce 4.20 tour.
Version 25 of the Best Open Source Office Suite
Fans of open source alternatives to Microsoft Word can look forward to Debian 13 adding LibreOffice 25.2. Debian 12 came with version 7.4.7, which was released in May of 2023. LibreOffice in the meantime switched to year-style versioning and released version 25.2 in February 2025.
LibreOffice is such a large and mutli-faceted suite of software it’s hard to sum up what’s changed. Some highlights though may be a metadata removal privacy feature when exporting, refreshed templates in Impress, and new chart types in Calc. You’ll have to click around and explore in specific LibreOffice 25 apps to discover everything.
GIMP Upgraded to Version 3 at Last
The popular image editor GIMP is being updated in Trixie to version 3.0.4, up from from 2.10.34. This is also a monumental upgrade considering that the release of GIMP 3 was about a decade in the making.
One of the biggest changes GIMP 3.0.4 brings with it is an upgrade from the GTK2 toolkit to GTK3. When you open it, you’ll see a new logo and splash screen, and the user interface will have been refreshed. It also adds features like the ability to edit already-applied filters, multi-layer selection, and improved color management.
To learn more about what’s happening with Trixie, see the official Debian 13 release notes. If you want to give Debian 13 a try, you can get it from Debian’s stable download page at some point on August 9. If, when you check, it’s still showing Debian 12.11 at the top of the page, then you’ll have to wait and refresh the page as Trixie becomes available.
Once you have the installation image, see my guide to making a bootable Linux USB drive with it. For more detailed information, check out the Debian installation manual.
