Canonical has rolled out the newest stable version of the popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, code-named Resolute Raccoon. This new version brings along current GNU/Linux technologies.
The system is built on the Linux 7.0 kernel and the Mesa 26.0 graphics stack. On the desktop side, the Wayland-based GNOME 50 interface takes place by default.
Technical Innovations and Desktop Experience
Although Ubuntu 26.04 LTS offers a Wayland-focused experience, it continues to support X11 applications thanks to the Xwayland layer. Users can also install alternative desktop environments such as KDE Plasma, Xfce, MATE, or i3 if they need them.
On the installation side, a hardware-based encryption feature has been included in the system with TPM chip support. In addition, automatic installation support via Landscape is also offered to users. There is native support for NVIDIA CUDA and AMD ROCm system-wide. VA-API accelerated video encoding and decoding operations are now active by default. On the software side, the Software & Updates application has been removed, and the Tracker Miners indexer has been renamed to LocalSearch. While the Totem video player is replaced by Showtime, the System Monitor application leaves its place to the Resources tool.
Server and Version Support
The Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS version comes with up-to-date server components such as PHP 8.5.2, Samba 4.23, Docker 29, and PostgreSQL 18. Additionally, many important software packages such as OpenStack 2026.1 and MariaDB 11.8.6 have also been updated.
Among the official flavors, Kubuntu 26.04 LTS and Ubuntu Studio 26.04 LTS come together with KDE Plasma 6.6. Xubuntu 26.04 LTS features Xfce 4.20, and the Lubuntu 26.04 LTS version includes LXQt 2.3. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will receive standard support for 5 years until April 2031. This period can be extended up to 10 years with the Ubuntu Pro plan and up to 15 years with the commercial Legacy add-on. The system is available for download on the official website for both 64-bit and AArch64 architectures. What do you think about all these changes brought by the new version?
