Although Wayland has been GNOME’s default session since 2016, X11 has continued to linger in the codebase—until now. That changed with the recent merging of two PRs (here and here), which completely removed the X11 codebase from both Mutter, GNOME’s default window manager and compositor, as well as the GNOME Shell itself.
In other words, the GNOME project is finally closing one of the longest chapters in Linux desktop history. With the upcoming GNOME 50 release, scheduled for mid-march 2026, the desktop environment will officially drop support for the native X11 session, making Wayland the sole display system moving forward.
I finally had to switch recently because I use gnome, and they removed the X11 session. I managed to sort out most of the missing parts needed for my workflow, but it still feels like a downgrade. It feels much more sluggish, things that were instant now take a second, and I’ve been under a constant barrage of bugs and glitches. Some make the whole experience feel like using amateur software. I’ll be typing, then press a global shortcut to launch some software, and I’ll end up with whole desktop pausing for a second and the shortcut inserted in my text 20 times. And this happens a few times a day. Just one example.
I’ve almost exclusively used Linux desktop for the past decade and it was a smooth experience, but with gnome-wayland I finally understand the people that were always complaining about everything being broken and glitchy.
I can understand having some bugs, but if text or mouse input doesn’t work properly, or if using my new laptop suddenly feels like using my much slower old one, then I may as well look for a different desktop.