Canonical has announced the release of Ubuntu 25.04, also known as "Plucky Puffin." This new version is powered by the latest Linux 6.14 kernel and includes the GNOME 48 desktop environment, which features triple buffering designed to enhance performance, especially on lower-end systems.
This release introduces various new features, including a generic ARM64 (AArch64) desktop ISO for use on virtual machines and support for hardware platforms such as ACPI + EFI and Snapdragon-based Windows on ARM devices. The ISO now allows initial hardware support for the Snapdragon X Elite platform.
The Ubuntu Desktop installer has been updated with new functionality, including support for local file paths for autoinstall imports and enhanced dual boot capabilities, particularly for users with BitLocker-protected Windows installations. This ensures a smoother experience when installing Ubuntu alongside existing systems.
Networking improvements include updated support for Netplan with WPA-PSK-SHA256 Wi-Fi configurations and better DNS management with systemd-networkd-wait-online, ensuring that interfaces are only marked as online when DNS is accessible.
The new version also simplifies accessibility with the default installation of the xdg-terminal-exec package, allowing quick access to the terminal via the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut. Additionally, the document viewer has been changed from Evince to Papers, and geolocation services powered by BeaconDB are enabled by default in new installations.
Security enhancements are notable as well, with new AppArmor profiles added to improve the sandboxing of applications. Furthermore, support for the JPEG XL image format is now included, along with dynamic boost functionality enabled for NVIDIA GPUs.
Under-the-hood upgrades bring an updated toolchain consisting of GCC 15, GNU Binutils 2.44, and versions of popular components like Python 3.13.3, Rust 1.84, and Go 1.24. The default package manager has been updated to APT 3.0.
Ubuntu 25.04 is available for download across its various flavors, including Ubuntu Desktop, Ubuntu Server, Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, Ubuntu Cinnamon, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Kylin, and Ubuntu MATE. Unlike the long-term support version of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, this version has a support window of nine months, extending until January 2026.
For users seeking longevity, it’s advisable to opt for the long-term support version, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat), which is supported until at least 2029.
Find the download links for the various iterations of Ubuntu 25.04 here.
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