Building on the Ubuntu 26.04 LTS base released today by Canonical, Kubuntu 26.04 introduces Plasma 6.6 as the flagship desktop environment, alongside Qt 6.10.2, KDE Frameworks 6.24.0, and the latest KDE Gear 25.12.3 application suite. We’ve also upgraded to Linux kernel 7.0 for enhanced hardware support and performance. Whether you’re a developer, creator, or everyday user, this release emphasises Wayland maturity, modern security, and seamless integration with the open source world. Kubuntu 26.04 LTS will receive security updates and critical fixes through April 2029, making it an excellent choice for home users, schools, businesses, and anyone who values a dependable, beautiful desktop.
You can trace a clear through-line across recent LTS cycles: 20.04 LTS was the last Xfce-based LTS and set up the desktop transition, 22.04 LTS stabilized the Plasma era, and 24.04 LTS introduced the new Subiquity/Flutter installer generation and PipeWire 1.0 maturity. Ubuntu Studio 26.04 LTS builds on that foundation with practical workflow improvements instead of a single marquee feature: three selectable desktop layouts, fully rewritten Installer and Audio Configuration tools (Python with GTK4 and Qt6 frontends), and broader translation coverage. It also brings forward ideas that were future-looking in earlier cycles, especially minimal-install flexibility and easier post-install workflow selection, while adding production-focused updates like FFADO support, easier PipeWire tuning, and new default additions such as Loopino and Plasma PipeWire Settings. As with prior Ubuntu Studio LTS releases, this cycle carries a three-year support window, through April 2029.
The Resources app now replaces the System Monitor app and the Power Statistics app in the GNOME environment. Resources enable you to monitor the utilization of your system resources, including the CPU, memory, GPU, network and storage and power usage. Compared to System Monitor, it comes with the following enhancements: It groups processes into apps. It tracks GPU usage, including video encoder and decoder usage. It tracks Neural Processing Unit (NPU) usage. It tracks hardware statistics like CPU, GPU and memory clock frequency. It features a modern and accessible interface based on GTK 4 and libadwaita. The app is written in the Rust programming language. Added a GNOME Shell search provider for snap applications: The GNOME Shell global search gained the ability to search for the available snap applications that match the search criteria. This feature can be disabled in the Search panel of the Settings app.
This release presents the new Linux kernel 7.0.0 as well as the new version 147.0.7727.55-1 of the web browser google-chrome-stable. In addition, among other things, Starbuntu has added Java GUI examples. Moreover, Starbuntu has further improved its kernel upgrade software by eliminating from now on a severe bug in the pre/post scripts contained in the original kernel debian packages.
We are excited to announce the release of GhostBSD 26.1-R15.0p2. This release marks a major milestone as GhostBSD moves to FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE, bringing the latest upstream improvements, including enhanced hardware support, security updates, and kernel advancements. Key highlights: the default shell has been switched to zsh; XLibre is now the default display server; enterprise WPA (802.1X/EAP) and WireGuard support added to NetworkMGR; Update Station now supports boot environment based major version upgrades; Software Station benefits from a faster bisect-based package search; refreshed visual identity with a new wallpaper, updated icon themes, and new theme variants. Please note that upgrading does not change your current display server. If you are on X.Org, it will remain on X.Org after upgrading. This release addresses numerous reported issues, including UEFI boot problems affecting some users, the desktop not starting in R15 MATE, the missing installer in XFCE, live ISO image not starting X server in VirtualBox EFI mode....
We are now making use of systemd preset files to manage which services are enabled by default. We used to link services to a respective target.wants directory to make a service start automatically, but this has two issues: it causes systemd to not correctly show their status, and is slightly harder for us to manage. Preset files eliminate both of these problems. For this release, we've changed the default privileged group from sudo to wheel. Most software assumes that the wheel group is the default sudo group, and we have to patch several packages to change it to use sudo. Switching to the usual wheel group means that maintaining these packages is easier for us, because we no longer have to worry about rebasing patches when software updates. Solus now ships with GRUB 2.14 on legacy non-EFI systems.
ZimaOS 1.6.0. New: added customizable display for storage devices; added USB class storage device management; added reliable saving mechanism for RAID metadata, supporting automatic re-identification and mounting of the original array after system reinstallation or device replacement; added customizable display for device images and login wallpaper. Fixed: fixed the pull restriction issue in the mod_management module; fixed the connection restriction issue when SMB acts as a client; fixed the issue where SMB did not 'skip folders without share permissions' as expected; fixed the issue where disks could not enter normal sleep due to intermittent wake-ups by the smartd service; fixed the Docker startup failure issue caused by abnormal docker0 network interface; fixed the Files service startup failure issue due to missing data tables or abnormal table structure; fixed the problem where storage appeared missing due to the presence of vfat-type disks....
RakuOS Linux 2026.04.15 is a major release and our last major update for the Fedora 43 base as we begin to move towards Fedora 44, introducing our first COSMIC desktop edition ISO image, a new live ISO image installation experience, and full Rust rewrites of our core desktop applications. RakuOS Linux now ships its first COSMIC desktop ISO image, alongside our existing GNOME and KDE editions. Built on the System76 COSMIC desktop environment, it delivers a clean, modern experience on top of RakuOS's immutable, container-native foundation. Note of caution: COSMIC is still maturing and currently has some issues with gaming. If you are a gamer, we recommend holding off on the COSMIC edition until these issues are resolved by System76.
The panel now works seamlessly with right-to-left scripts. That means if you're using Zorin OS in a language like Arabic, Hebrew, or Urdu, your taskbar and panel layout will display right-to-left to match the rest of the system's interface. Some apps might display their own indicator icon in the panel tray, allowing you to view the app's status or quickly access its functions. To let you decide if and how they're displayed, we've added a toggle for 'Tray Icons in the Panel' and settings for them to the Interface section of Zorin Appearance. You might also notice that Zorin OS 18.1 feels a bit faster and smoother. That's because many performance enhancements and bug fixes have been implemented throughout the desktop in this latest release.
Today we are releasing version 6.2 of Raspberry Pi OS, the second update to the 'Trixie' version we released last year. This update is mostly a round-up of all the small changes and bug fixes we have made over the past few months, but there is one significant change that we’d like to flag up - passwordless sudo is now disabled by default. Given the ever-increasing threat of cybercrime, we continually review the security of Raspberry Pi OS to ensure it is sufficiently robust to withstand potential attacks. This is always a tricky balance, as anything that makes the operating system more secure will invariably inconvenience legitimate users to some extent, so we try to keep such changes to a minimum. This particular security update is one that many users may not even notice, but it will affect some.