GNOME 49, the next version of the popular Linux desktop environment, is slated to be released on September 13, 2025, and as such, the development team is ironing out the last few bugs and feature additions in the ongoing beta testing phase. The latest of these additions comes by way of a change to Mutter, GNOME's Wayland display server and X11 compositor library and window manager. The update, as detailed in a recent merge request , allows the cursor to move at the display's maximum refresh rate when VRR is enabled, even when the desktop frame rate drops. This should mean mouse inputs will feel more responsive on GNOME, even when the DE is bogged down.

"If the fullscreen surface frame rate drops below 30 FPS, allow the cursor to move at maximum refresh rate, instead of limiting it to ≤ 30 Hz," reads the merge request. This update was apparently "inspired" by a description of how the same issue is handled in KWin, the Wayland-based compositor for KDE—once again highlighting the importance of open-source projects learning from one another. The new cursor handling is yet another addition to the GNOME project that helps bring the desktop environment in-line with the likes of KDE Plasma, which has historically had much better support for features like variable refresh rate and HDR. GNOME 49 will also be the first GNOME version to disable the X11 session by default, instead opting to use Wayland with X11 as a fall-back for compatibility applications.