Support us on Patreon to keep GamingOnLinux alive. This ensures all of our main content remains free for everyone. Just good, fresh content! Alternatively, you can donate through PayPal. You can also buy games using our partner links for GOG and Humble Store.
We do often include affiliate links to earn us some pennies. See more here.

Ah Ubuntu, it's like a warm cuddly blanket or a favourite jumper. There's others in your wardrobe but nothing is quite like the comfy and safe feel of it. A major new version is approaching with Ubuntu 20.04 which is a "Long Term Support" release.

Ubuntu 20.04 and all the flavours like Ubuntu MATE, Kubuntu, Budgie and so on have all hit the Beta stage so they're ready for some wider testing and reporting. It's also now Ubuntu Testing Week which runs until April 8, which all the effort now focused on ISO testing, bug reporting, and of course fixing bugs.

Have a quick listen to Canonical staffer Alan Pope talking briefly about it:

YouTube Thumbnail
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Accept Cookies & Show   Direct Link

Some of the big features landing in Ubuntu 20.04 (and other versions):

  • A theme refresh (with a light/dark switcher).
  • GNOME 3.36 / MATE Desktop 1.24 / Plasma 5.18
  • Mesa 20.0 open source graphics.
  • Firefox 74.0.
  • ZFS storage upgrades
  • Thunderbird 68.6.0.
  • LibreOffice 6.4.
  • Snap Store replaces the Ubuntu Store.
  • And the usual assortment of toolchain updates including  glibc 2.31, OpenJDK 11, rustc 1.41, GCC 9.3, Python 3.8.2, ruby 2.7.0, php 7.4, perl 5.30, golang 1.13 and plenty more upgrades.

One of the huge changes for NVIDIA users are the inclusion of drivers on the ISO downloads. This means you can select to install them together with the system, to get a fully ready to go install of Ubuntu. Additionally, Canonical will now be providing NVIDIA driver updates in the repository removing the need for a messy PPA setup. For Linux gamers, it's a big win.

If you want more information on how to get involved in testing, take a look over on this forum post. You can also find the official Beta release announcement here.

The full release of Ubuntu 20.04 is scheduled for April 23 with main support lasting for at least 5 years.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
16 Likes
About the author -
author picture
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
See more from me
The comments on this article are closed.
46 comments
Page: 1/5»
  Go to:

kevie Apr 3, 2020
Given we're twenty days away from the final release should we not be looking at release candidates rather than entering beta?

Regardless I will be giving it a go on release, although I am tempted to try and give Budgie a go as my daily use DE.
slaapliedje Apr 3, 2020
I used to really like the idea of Ubuntu, as it's initial plan was Debian, with current Gnome and released every 6 months based on the latest Gnome release. Then they kept determining to be 'unique' in the huge Linux landscape, and pushing technologies that no one else supported, so they didn't get that much support, as Canonical is not that big.. Snap is one of those things, and it's direct competition with flatpak, which a lot of distributions/software has adopted, is what rubs me raw about it at this point. They seem to always do something good, to match it with two things not great.

So I'll stick with my Debian :)
DanglingPointer Apr 4, 2020
Quoting: slaapliedje... and pushing technologies that no one else supported, so they didn't get that much support, as Canonical is not that big...

I don't know how you're basing your conclusions as to them not getting much support and Canonical not being big?
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ubuntu-linux-continues-to-rule-the-cloud/

Those are just two links which just refute what you are saying. There are many more links!
https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/os-linux

Here's an AWS stats tracker website tracking 1.2 million+ EC2 instances.
Ubuntu is the clear leader and most popular choice!
https://thecloudmarket.com/stats


Last edited by DanglingPointer on 4 April 2020 at 12:19 am UTC
CatKiller Apr 4, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter Plus
Quoting: kevieGiven we're twenty days away from the final release should we not be looking at release candidates rather than entering beta?

The release candidate comes on 16 April, so one week before release.

The schedule is

Testing week: 9 January 2020
Feature Freeze: 27 February 2020
Testing week: 5 March 2020
User Interface Freeze: 19 March 2020
Ubuntu 20.04 Beta: 2 April 2020
Kernel Freeze: 9 April 2020
Release Candidate: 16 April 2020
Final Release: 23 April 2020


Last edited by CatKiller on 4 April 2020 at 4:04 am UTC
slaapliedje Apr 4, 2020
Quoting: DanglingPointer
Quoting: slaapliedje... and pushing technologies that no one else supported, so they didn't get that much support, as Canonical is not that big...

I don't know how you're basing your conclusions as to them not getting much support and Canonical not being big?
https://www.zdnet.com/article/ubuntu-linux-continues-to-rule-the-cloud/

Those are just two links which just refute what you are saying. There are many more links!
https://w3techs.com/technologies/details/os-linux

Here's an AWS stats tracker website tracking 1.2 million+ EC2 instances.
Ubuntu is the clear leader and most popular choice!
https://thecloudmarket.com/stats
Install base != company size.

Yeah, they have a lot working on and riding on Openstack their cloud stuff. What they don't have is a lot of dedicated developers to work on their desktop system. And that's what we're talking about here, right?
elmapul Apr 4, 2020
if you boot via live cd, it will be using the generic nvidia drivers or the same version that you install?
tuxintuxedo Apr 4, 2020
Quoting: elmapulif you boot via live cd, it will be using the generic nvidia drivers or the same version that you install?
Although the closed Nvidia driver is now included on the install media (live CD), the generic (open source) driver will be used by default. So for a Live, nothing will change from before.
DanglingPointer Apr 4, 2020
Quoting: slaapliedjeInstall base != company size.

Yeah, they have a lot working on and riding on Openstack their cloud stuff. What they don't have is a lot of dedicated developers to work on their desktop system. And that's what we're talking about here, right?

Not many dedicated developers for desktop compared to who? IBM-Redhat? Suse? System76? gLinux?

If I'm not mistaken, Canonical employed desktop-developer numbers are only second to IBM-Redhat employeed numbers, with Suse 3rd.
How truly amazing work have Popey, Wimpy & co. done? Ubuntu is to be better than ever via this release apparently.

One click install sandboxed snaps are a breeze for new users of Linux to start with. No more tinkering with unsafe PPA's (which often deprecate) and stuff.

Btw: there's now an official snap for ScummVM too! <3

https://www.scummvm.org/news/20200331/
Boldos Apr 4, 2020
View PC info
  • Supporter
I'm running on 19.10 as my daily work and home driver...
Oh my, I just can't wait for it :)
While you're here, please consider supporting GamingOnLinux on:

Reward Tiers: Patreon. Plain Donations: PayPal.

This ensures all of our main content remains totally free for everyone! Patreon supporters can also remove all adverts and sponsors! Supporting us helps bring good, fresh content. Without your continued support, we simply could not continue!

You can find even more ways to support us on this dedicated page any time. If you already are, thank you!
The comments on this article are closed.