KiCad 6.0 Release Imminent As A Leading Open-Source Circuit Board CAD Program

KiCad 6.0 has been tagged as a major update to this leading open-source printed circuit board design program.

KiCad is easily one of the best open-source/free electronic design automation suites. Among many other uses, KiCad has been used for System76 in designing their open hardware products. KiCad has been in development going on 30 years now and with KiCad 6.0 is another big milestone.

KiCad 6.0 introduces a new file format, improvements to its user interface, much improved 3D viewer, and much more. This blog post from earlier in the year has a very detailed look (including plenty of screenshots) showcasing all of the changes with KiCad 6.0 compared to version 5 and prior.

The KiCad 6.0 roadmap also has a look at many of the changes to find with this big open-source EDA software update.

KiCad 6.0 has been tagged and currently available in Git form with presumably the formal release announcement out soon on KiCad.org.