Inkscape 1.4.4 is a maintenance release with 20 crash fixes, ~20 bug fixes, 6 performance improvements, and Windows on ARM support.
Key Takeaways
Three startup crashes fixed: duplicate recent-file entries, same-folder files on different drives, and graphics tablet on launch.
Performance wins in zoom on large path documents, Layers/Objects dialog with many selected objects, gradient editing, and copy-paste with gradients.
Acts as a bridge release: opens Inkscape 1.5 multipage files (using standardized svg:view) and saves them back to the pre-1.5 format for compatibility.
New Star/Polygon tool button rotates shapes to neutral upright position; Fill and Stroke color slider changes no longer pollute undo history.
macOS known issue: extensions are fully broken when Inkscape is launched from the command line, a deliberate security fix for CVE-2025-15523.
