Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, codenamed Resolute Raccoon, is the next long-term support release of Ubuntu, scheduled for April 23, 2026. Powered by Linux kernel 7.0, the GNOME 50 desktop environment codenamed "Tokyo", and the Mesa 26.0 graphics stack, it delivers a polished Wayland-only experience with 5 years of standard support and up to 10 years with Ubuntu Pro. Here are the key highlights:
- GNOME 50 Desktop: Ships with the latest GNOME 50 release featuring variable refresh rate (VRR) support, improved legacy X11 app scaling via XWayland, and new parental controls.
- New Default Apps: Introduces Resources as the new system monitor and Showtime as the default video player.
- Snap & Web Search in Overview: Two new extensions add Snap Store results and web search directly into the GNOME Shell Overview.
- Wayland-Only: With GNOME 50 dropping X11 session support, Ubuntu 26.04 goes fully Wayland. Legacy X11 apps continue to work via XWayland.
- Visual Refresh: Colorful new Yaru folder icons, a fully opaque Ubuntu Dock, a new Resolute Raccoon boot spinner animation, and a fresh default wallpaper.
- Split Firmware Packages: The 600MB linux-firmware package is split into 17 vendor-specific packages, reducing bandwidth for updates.
- AI & GPU Workloads: Native AMD ROCm and NVIDIA CUDA packages available directly from Ubuntu's repositories.
- Security Improvements: Hardware-backed encryption via TPM, a new Security Center with Ubuntu Pro settings and TPM PIN management, and sudo now shows asterisks for password feedback.
- APT Enhancements: Expanded bash-completion, new
why/why-notcommands, and history/undo/redo/rollback support via APT 3.2. - OpenJDK 25: Updated default Java version to the latest LTS release.
