On 26th November 2019, the Kali Linux team has announced the release of Kali Linux 2019.4. This release is different from the previous releases because of multiple reasons. One of the most visible improvements in Kali 2019.4 release is a well themed Xfce Desktop.

New Undercover mode in Kali Linux 2019.4 New UnderCover mode in Kali 2019.4

The UI Revamp

The Kali Linux team was planning to have a major UI change for quite some time. The existing GNOME Desktop environment is too much functional and is not something that people are looking in a distribution like Kali. Also, the team has to work on a completely different layout for ARM systems.

By introducing the Xfce Desktop environment, Kali Linux provides an out-of-the-box functional desktop environment. It is not too much of resource hungry and can provide a consistent and smooth experience in lower specification systems and high-end computers.

The Kali Linux team also brings an eye candy theme for the Xfce Desktop. It also provides an undercover mode, which if enabled, your desktop will look like Microsoft Windows and you can continue to work on your hacking activities without giving doubt to the people around.

What are other changes in Kali Linux 2019.4?

The major changes in Kali Linux 2019.4 are listed below. You can read more about these in Kali Linux 2019.4 release announcement.

  • Introduces the Xfce Desktop environment.
  • A new Gtk3 theme which can be used for both GNOME and Xfce Desktop environments.
  • Kali Undercover mode which helps to easily change your desktop layout to something more familiar to the public and enjoy some privacy.
  • All the documentations are converted to markdown format and are stored in /docs directory. It is hosted in a public Git repository so that everyone can have access to it.
  • The packaging documentation is made more simple and straight forward. This helps people to package tools for Kali Linux.
  • Enables support for BTRFS which provides snapshot support for backing up the system.
  • Microsoft Powershell is now packed for Kali
  • Linux Kernel 5.3.9
  • Usual bug fixes and package updates.

Kali Linux 2019.4 Xfce Edition screenshots

01 Kali Linux 2019.4 Xfce Desktop01 Kali Linux 2019.4 Xfce Desktop02 About Xfce 4.1402 About Xfce 4.1403 Whisker Menu03 Whisker Menu04 Thunar File Manager04 Thunar File Manager05 Kali Linux with light theme05 Kali Linux with light theme06 QTerminal06 QTerminal07 QTerminal - Dropdown07 QTerminal - Dropdown08 Firefox ESR08 Firefox ESR09 Parole Media Player09 Parole Media Player10 Kali Linux Docs10 Kali Linux Docs11 Ristretto Image Viewer11 Ristretto Image Viewer12 Busy Desktop12 Busy Desktop13 Alt tab switching13 Alt tab switching14 Mousepad Editor14 Mousepad Editor15 Settings Manager15 Settings Manager16 Wallpaper Selection16 Wallpaper Selection17 Task Manager17 Task Manager19 Resouce usage with top19 Resouce usage with top20 UnderCover Mode20 UnderCover Mode21 UnderCover mode application menu21 UnderCover mode application menu22 Shutdown confirmation22 Shutdown confirmation

You can also checkout more stunning screenshots of Kali Linux 2019.4 here.