Canonical has launched Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, codenamed Resolute Raccoon, featuring Linux kernel 7.0 and a shift to Wayland across variants. Official flavors including Kubuntu and Lubuntu accompany the main release with updated desktops and hardware support. The LTS version promises five years of updates until April 2031.
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS ships with GNOME 50, running exclusively on Wayland with no X11 session option in GDM. New default applications include Ptyxis for terminal, Loupe for images, Papers for documents, Showtime for video, and Resources for system monitoring. Improvements cover a refreshed Yaru icon theme, stable fractional scaling, and a new boot animation inspired by the raccoon wallpaper. Security enhancements feature generally available TPM-backed full disk encryption and post-quantum cryptography in OpenSSH 10.2 with the mlkem768x25519-sha256 algorithm enabled by default. Canonical provides five years of standard support to April 2031, extendable to ten years via Ubuntu Pro until 2036. An official ARM64 desktop ISO now targets VMs and Snapdragon devices. Hardware support expands to Intel Core Ultra Xe2 graphics, Arc B580 and B570 GPUs, with VA-API acceleration for Intel and AMD, NVIDIA Dynamic Boost on laptops, and the NTSYNC driver for better Wine and Proton performance. sudo-rs becomes the default sudo implementation across variants. Kubuntu 26.04 LTS adopts Plasma 6.6 with OCR in Spectacle, Plasma Setup wizard, and primary-screen virtual desktops. It drops default X11 support, focusing solely on Wayland, though the plasma-session-x11 package remains available. Support lasts three years until April 2029. Lubuntu 26.04 LTS, the 30th release, uses LXQt 2.3 with enhancements like Desktop Switcher for certain Wayland compositors and a Safely Remove option in PCManFM-Qt. Wayland session is absent from the ISO but may arrive via PPA later. It also receives three years of support to April 2029, rust-coreutils for core tools, and Discover 6.6.3 app store. ISOs for all are available from official sites and the Ubuntu portal, with upgrade paths for users on 24.04 LTS or 25.10.
