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PayPalThe next major release of Ubuntu is almost here with a Beta now available for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Long-term support) for testing and bug-hunting.
This Beta release includes Ubuntu Desktop, Server, WSL, Cloud products, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, and Xubuntu. Since it's an LTS release, it will be supported until April 2031.
With this release we're seeing a major version bump for some of the essentials like the GNOME 50 desktop, Linux kernel 7.0 for expanded hardware support and Mesa 26 for all the latest graphics driver improvements. It's shaping up to be a truly excellent release across all flavours of Ubuntu (with my favourite being Kubuntu for KDE Plasma).
See everything in the release notes and release announcement.
The full release is due out April 23, 2026.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
About the author - Liam Dawe
I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly checked 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.
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6 comments
Yep, and... As I'm aware, there flat-out NO X11 desktop, AT ALL, strictly Wayland only... But for people using older apps or PC configurations that for some reason are working fine ONLY on X11 but NOT with Wayland, what they'll supposed to do? 🤔
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Gnome 50 has a serious regression in graphics performance, so stay away from Ubuntu 26.04 until it's fixed.
https://www.phoronix.com/review/nvidia-595-kde-gnome
https://www.phoronix.com/review/nvidia-595-kde-gnome
1 Likes
Quoting: sarmadGnome 50 has a serious regression in graphics performance, so stay away from Ubuntu 26.04 until it's fixed.It wasn't clear from the article whether it's a regression, some major improvement in KDE, or something else. Would be nice if he compared with GNOME 49 and/or some other desktop environments to give a better idea. If it *is* a regression, hopefully they can track it down quickly. The differences were pretty large in some cases.
https://www.phoronix.com/review/nvidia-595-kde-gnome
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Quoting: Vladimir-DimovYep, and... As I'm aware, there flat-out NO X11 desktop, AT ALL, strictly Wayland only... But for people using older apps or PC configurations that for some reason are working fine ONLY on X11 but NOT with Wayland, what they'll supposed to do? 🤔Use Xubuntu, Lubuntu, or Ubuntu-MATE (which really should be called Mubuntu)?
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As I'm aware, Gnome and KDE are most widely used Linux desktops, apparently. Also KDE seem to be most ahead desktop when coming especially to accessibility and monitor fraction scaling, while majority of others desktop environments (LXQt, LXDE, Mate, Fluxbox, Unity, Budgie), except of maybe XFCE are somewhat more obscure and way less used. Only Cinnamon seems more widely used but as I'm aware it's mainly Linux Mint exclusive.
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Caldathras 46 minutes ago
Quoting: Vladimir-DimovAs I'm aware, Gnome and KDE are most widely used Linux desktops, apparently. Also KDE seem to be most ahead desktop when coming especially to accessibility and monitor fraction scaling, while majority of others desktop environments (LXQt, LXDE, Mate, Fluxbox, Unity, Budgie), except of maybe XFCE are somewhat more obscure and way less used. Only Cinnamon seems more widely used but as I'm aware it's mainly Linux Mint exclusive.I agree that Gnome and KDE Plasma are certainly the top players. Mate is a lot more common than you think (we have active Mate users on this forum). XFCE is widely available on almost every distro, usually offered as a third option to Gnome or Plasma. I use it myself.
As to Cinnamon, it is not restricted just to Linux Mint. There is an Ubuntu flavor. It's available both on LMDE and mainline Debian itself. I'm pretty sure I have seen a few GoL members who have mentioned that they're running the Cinnamon desktop on Arch and Fedora as well.
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