<p>Ubuntu 26.04 LTS ‘Resolute Raccoon’ was released on 23 April 2026, the 11th long-term supported Ubuntu release. The main edition gets five years of security updates (until April 2031), extendable to ten via Ubuntu Pro. Official flavors like Kubuntu and Lubuntu get three years. System requirements have bumped up slightly: a 2 GHz dual-core CPU, 6 GB RAM (up from 4 GB), and 25 GB of storage.</p>
<h2>Linux kernel 7.0 and hardware support</h2>
<p>The release ships with Linux kernel 7.0, which adds support for Intel Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake), full Intel Core Ultra Xe2 and Arc Battlemage GPU support, and the NTSYNC driver — a kernel-level improvement that meaningfully speeds up Windows game compatibility through Wine and Proton. RISC-V RVA23 baseline support is also included, and Canonical Livepatch now extends to Arm64 servers for rebootless kernel patching.</p>
<p>Mesa 26.0.x handles GPU drivers, with NVIDIA 595.x series as the default. NVIDIA Dynamic Boost is enabled by default on laptops in Kubuntu. Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) is on by default, and hardware-accelerated video encoding is available for remote desktop sessions.</p>
<h2>Wayland is now the only option</h2>
<p>This is the first Ubuntu LTS to ship without an Xorg desktop session. GNOME 50 drops X11 from GDM entirely — Wayland is the only supported session. Kubuntu follows the same path, dropping X11 session support completely. If you rely on software that only works under Xorg, check compatibility before upgrading.</p>
<p>Fractional scaling is now stable rather than experimental. HDR support has improved. The overall Wayland experience is noticeably more mature than it was in 24.04.</p>
<h2>New default apps</h2>
<p>Five apps replace older defaults on the GNOME desktop:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Ptyxis</strong> replaces the old terminal</li>
<li><strong>Loupe</strong> replaces the image viewer</li>
<li><strong>Papers</strong> replaces the document viewer</li>
<li><strong>Showtime</strong> replaces Totem for video playback</li>
<li><strong>Resources</strong> replaces GNOME System Monitor</li>
</ul>
<p>Several of these are Rust rewrites. On the removal side: Software &amp; Updates, Startup Applications, and Google Drive integration in Nautilus are gone.</p>
<p>Bundled app versions: Firefox 149, LibreOffice 25.8 (26.2.2 in Kubuntu/Lubuntu), Thunderbird 140, GIMP 3.0.</p>
<h2>Security and encryption</h2>
<p>TPM-backed full-disk encryption is now generally available rather than experimental. It uses TPM 2.0 hardware to handle key storage, so you don’t need to enter a passphrase on every boot while still getting real encryption.</p>
<p>OpenSSH 10.2 adds post-quantum cryptography support. A new Security Center app gives users granular control over Snap permissions. Confidential computing support covers Intel TDX and AMD SEV. Dual-boot alongside BitLocker-encrypted Windows is better supported than before.</p>
<h2>Rust-based system components</h2>
<p>Several low-level tools have been replaced with Rust implementations:</p>
<ul>
<li><code>sudo-rs</code> is now the default sudo provider instead of the classic C implementation. It’s not fully compatible with every sudo edge case, so if you have complex sudo configurations, test before upgrading.</li>
<li><code>uutils coreutils</code> replaces GNU coreutils in some contexts</li>
<li>Rust kernel drivers are included for memory safety improvements</li>
</ul>
<h2>AI/ML and developer tooling</h2>
<p>NVIDIA CUDA and AMD ROCm are now available directly via <code>apt</code> from official repositories, which removes a significant friction point for machine learning workloads.</p>
<p>On the developer tooling side, the release includes GCC 15.2 as the default compiler, Rust 1.93 with <code>cargo-auditable</code> support, Golang 1.26 as default, OpenJDK 25, and an official .NET snap with multi-version management. Canonical has also added “devpacks” for Spring and Go that bundle framework tools into single-command installs — the goal being to reduce onboarding from multi-page setup guides to a few commands.</p>
<h2>Desktop quality-of-life changes</h2>
<ul>
<li>Refreshed Yaru theme with new folder icons</li>
<li>Grouped notifications</li>
<li>A Wellbeing panel for screen time tracking</li>
<li>Battery charging limits</li>
<li>Text size slider for accessibility</li>
<li>Improved APT command-line output and new subcommands</li>
<li>Expanded Deb package management in App Center</li>
<li>A new Telemetry panel (opt-in)</li>
<li>Dracut replaces initramfs-tools for faster boot times</li>
<li>Nautilus file manager has significant improvements</li>
<li>Authd for cloud identity provider authentication (Entra ID, Google IAM, OIDC)</li>
</ul>
<h2>Kubuntu and Lubuntu specifics</h2>
<p>Kubuntu 26.04 ships KDE Plasma 6.6, Qt 6.10.2, and KDE Frameworks 6.24.0. It adopts sudo-rs and drops X11 entirely.</p>
<p>Lubuntu 26.04 marks the project’s 30th release, shipping LXQt 2.3. It keeps X11 for now — a Wayland session isn’t included in the ISO but may arrive via PPA later. LXQt Panel’s Desktop Switcher gains Wayland compositor support, PCManFM-Qt adds a ‘Safely Remove’ option, and VA-API hardware-accelerated video is enabled by default.</p>
<h2>Upgrade paths</h2>
<p>Direct upgrades from 24.04 LTS are delayed until the 26.04.1 point release in July. Users on 25.10 will see an upgrade prompt soon. Anyone on an older release needs to upgrade to 24.04 LTS or 25.10 first.</p>
<p>A few other low-level changes worth knowing before upgrading: <code>apt-key</code> has been removed, cgroup v1 support is dropped, and this is the last release supporting SysV init scripts.</p>


Collections

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS 'Resolute Raccoon' is the 11th long-term Ubuntu release, shipping with Linux kernel 7.0, GNOME 50, and a complete drop of Xorg — Wayland is now the only supported desktop session. Key highlights include TPM-backed full-disk encryption going GA, sudo-rs replacing the classic C sudo, uutils coreutils replacing GNU coreutils, and several new default GNOME apps (many Rust rewrites). Developer tooling gets GCC 15.2, Rust 1.93, Golang 1.26, OpenJDK 25, and CUDA/ROCm now installable directly via apt. Kubuntu ships KDE Plasma 6.6 and also drops X11; Lubuntu retains X11 for now. Direct upgrades from 24.04 LTS are held until the 26.04.1 point release in July. Notable removals include apt-key, cgroup v1, and SysV init script support.

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: what changed since 22.04 and 24.04

<p><em>Direct upgrades from 24.04 LTS are delayed until the 26.04.1 point release, expected in July 2026.</em></p>
<p>I can confirm from experience that waiting is a good idea. I used the -d option to update from 24.04 today and BOOM. So i will need to do a full reinstall anyway, no problem for me but others might not be that lucky.</p>


<p>Is **26.04 **our gitf for us 23 April Sant Jordi?
A rose for a love, and a book forever.</p>


<p>this i feel will be a fine desktop distro, a stance on wayland is also good, no one will lose old application compatibility, xwayland is available and works well … the increase in hardware requiriement , while sad, is simply necessary , up from 4 gigs to 6 , yeah, todat an 8 gig pc / laptop is considered bottom of the line , so yeah, it was time instead of limiting the system’s capability to a nominal 4Gb system …</p>


<p>This all sounds interesting. I use 24.04 currently and had just setup my desktop environment on Ubuntu from GNOME to Sway/Wayland and I am liking it a lot. Never realized how much work the desktop env manager was doing and never really thought about it, lol. Fun to mess around with and check out different was to get into RICING the OS… Preparing myself to create a Arch(btw) partition on my Linux drive. heh heh, prob will break shit but is also why I was considering not trying to do it on my actual disk until I can walk through a docker arch download, lol. I would like to do it all myself because, I am a big noob and looking to specialize in SWE for my BSCS and come to find out I am having a lot of fun with making noob projects in python, learning Bash scripting as well and automating some stuff on my local machine/home lab- its so fun and wish I would of not been so lazy when I was younger because, I could have gotten into this profession when it was actually easy to get in- 2005-2010… oh well… Which is why I essentially stopped playing videogames and make all my free time centered around school and building up a CS portfolio- Github with projects/networking config and README’s for setting up different services like nginx, docker, kubernetes, and also building the networking pipeline between my ubuntu server OS running on my LAN via Rpi5 and will be my host for a webpage/webpages. I am currently learning Pygame and are putting my lessons to the test to just try and create some dinky noob projects, containerize them, create a simple blog with Python/HTML/CSS, most def not JS, lol… I want to then use my Rpi5 to serve the files to the browser and utilize Pygbag or whatever the utility is that allows me to compile the pygame source code in Web Assembly and then can be run locally on the clients device in their browser and stress their CPU out, lol. I want to be able to have at least 1 games current version up at any time and will mainly have friends/family hop on and criticize it etc. I believe it will be great to complete this noob project because I will get some experience with the networking/ along with the programming practice etc… lol… Sorry, I totally didnt mean to just spit out my thoughts but… Here they are, lol, smh. Hey if I sound stupid or are just flat out wrong/ignorant to a more efficient way to do this and you are will to point it out- please do!!! lol, I do my best to utilize AI just as a teacher but will also use to help me generate code but, I don’t ever just copy/paste… Unless it’s something like- logic behind a basic todo or expense tracking cli app, etc. I am decent with the basic built in library Python has but def not intermediate yet. Still noob tier, but, I have only been deep diving into CS concepts since I started school 10 months ago and I legit knew nothing like I do now, lol.</p>
<p>Hope everyone is having a great weekend and that Mythos doesn’t hack us all and expose me and my targeted ads, ahhhhh… Speaking of which, I am about to have pfBlockerNG-devel on my mini pc that I have do my routing/firewall and just setup this past week. Way better than comcast’s PoS… Also, don’t get me started on trying to access the admin panel on my comcast rental device that performs my WAN/LAN routing and set it to DMZ mode, lol. I am cheap and don’t feel like purchasing a modem and WAP , plus… F******* Comcast charges you less if you accept the rental, lol. I am sure it is because, it makes the user feel like they are getting a hook up whilst they allow us to use their poopy gear… Then after a year or more that device has essentially been paid for numerous times… I am assuming because, it seems like a 100$ device at most and serves as a 3 in 1… hmh… Yea, I had to actually download the stupid xfinity app and couldnt ‘hack’ my way into the admin page from my terminal by trying to wget 10.0.0.x/admin | head -50 ,and I could see the actual login page that I was being redirected from after I would click on the button that says- “click here to enter admin mode for your router”, and it redirects you to a prompt and says- you need to download app from this stupid xfinity site where you will have to survive the dark patterns and ad traps… It’s awesome, I love it, live for it really… F****** BS, Comcast!! We are paying to use the equipment, let me into the damn admin panel to my own home router, you PoS greedy f****!!!</p>
<p>Alright for real, though… I am out- sorry for ranting in a Ubuntu update thread, LMAO… I can already hear it.</p>


<p>Great overview of Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. The move to Wayland-only and Rust-based core utilities is a bold step, while hardware, gaming, and AI/ML support improvements make this release especially interesting for developers and power users.</p>
