Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, codenamed Resolute Raccoon, is in beta ahead of its planned stable release on April 23, 2026. It’s a 5-year LTS release, so there’s a fair amount riding on it. Here’s what’s actually in it.
<h2>The big changes</h2>
X11 is gone from the main Ubuntu flavor. There’s no longer an X11/Xorg session option at login. Wayland is the only desktop session now. X11 apps still run via Xwayland, with improved fractional scaling support, but if you need a full X11 session, Lubuntu is the recommended alternative.
GNOME 50 ships as the default desktop, with stable variable refresh rate (VRR) support finally landing. The Ubuntu Dock is now opaque by default.
Linux kernel 7.0 (RC in the beta) is included, along with Mesa 26.0.2 with OpenGL 4.6 and Vulkan 1.4 support. GPU driver coverage includes NVIDIA 590 and AMD ROCm, with both AMD ROCm and NVIDIA CUDA packages now available in the official repos.
<h2>New default apps</h2>
A few app swaps worth knowing about:
<ul>
<li>Resources replaces the old System Monitor</li>
<li>Showtime is the new default video player</li>
<li>Loop is a new image viewer built with Rust and GPU acceleration</li>
<li>Tixis is a new default terminal built with GTK4</li>
<li>The Software &amp; Updates app is removed; the Ubuntu App Center now handles both Snap and Deb packages</li>
<li>Ubuntu Pro features move to a new Security Center app</li>
</ul>
<h2>Under the hood</h2>
Rust is making inroads into core utilities: <code>sudo-rs</code> and <code>uutils</code> (Rust rewrites of coreutils) are included by default. Password feedback in <code>sudo</code> is now enabled, and <code>apt</code> bash-completion is expanded.
Other toolchain updates: Python 3.14, GCC 15.2, OpenJDK 25 as default.
The installer gets improved dual-boot detection and better TPM 2.0 full disk encryption support. Kernel firmware packages are now split up, which should reduce unnecessary firmware being pulled in.
Snap performance has been improved, and ARM64 is a supported architecture alongside x86.
<h2>Flavors</h2>
Beta builds are available for Kubuntu (KDE Plasma 6.6), Xubuntu (Xfce 4.20.1), Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, and Lubuntu, among others.
<h2>Should you test it?</h2>
It’s a beta, so the usual caveats apply - don’t run it on anything critical. But if you want to kick the tires on GNOME 50 or check how your X11-dependent apps behave under Xwayland before the April release, now’s a reasonable time to do it. Beta images are available for x86 and ARM64.

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Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) is now in beta ahead of its April 23, 2026 stable release. Key changes include the removal of X11 sessions in favor of Wayland-only (with Xwayland compatibility), GNOME 50 with stable VRR support, and Linux kernel 7.0. New default apps include Resources (system monitor), Showtime (video player), Loop (Rust-based image viewer), and Tixis (GTK4 terminal). Rust is expanding into core utilities with sudo-rs and uutils included by default. The toolchain updates bring Python 3.14, GCC 15.2, and OpenJDK 25. GPU support covers NVIDIA 590 and AMD ROCm, now available in official repos. ARM64 joins x86 as a supported architecture. Beta images are available for testing.

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS beta is out now, with GNOME 50, Linux 7.0, and no more X11

<img src="https://media.tenor.com/f0bbZ4FVLNkAAAAC/fu-middle.gif" alt="GIF">
…you and your wayland apparmor crap can jam it as HIGH you can fqn get it. Make my day.

lol. Lots of hate. I’m hopeful this could unify the community around Wayland but I don’t know shit.

Ubuntu has jumped the shark. F Ubuntu

Dropping X11 is the real headline, this forces the ecosystem forward whether people are ready or not. Everything else is incremental, but Wayland only makes this a meaningful shift for Linux desktop.