Canonical has officially released Ubuntu 25.04, dubbed "Plucky Puffin," enhancing the widely-used GNU/Linux distribution with updated components and features. This new version runs on the latest Linux 6.14 kernel, ensuring optimal hardware support, and integrates the GNOME 48 desktop environment, enhancing performance with dynamic triple buffering, particularly beneficial for lower-end systems.
Notable updates in Ubuntu 25.04 include:
- Introduction of an official generic ARM64 (AArch64) desktop ISO aimed at virtual machines, ACPI + EFI platforms, and Snapdragon-based Windows on ARM devices.
- Initial hardware enablement for Snapdragon X Elite platforms within the Ubuntu Desktop ISO.
- Upgraded installer features, including local file path support for autoinstall imports, an option to replace existing installations, and dual boot improvements focusing on BitLocker-protected Windows systems. This allows seamless installation alongside existing BitLocker partitions.
Networking enhancements also take center stage; Netplan now supports wpa-psk-sha256 Wi-Fi connections and offers routing policy configuration on NetworkManager backends. New functionality in systemd-networkd-wait-online allows users to wait for DNS servers before marking an interface as online.
For user convenience, the xdg-terminal-exec package is pre-installed, enabling easier terminal access via the Ctrl+Alt+T shortcut, while Papers replaces Evince as the default document viewer. Additionally, geolocation services through BeaconDB are now enabled by default for new installations.
Security improvements are notable as well, with the AppArmor package featuring new profiles for enhanced sandboxing. Support for the JPEG XL image format has been added, and support for NVIDIA Dynamic Boost is activated by default on compatible laptops.
In terms of graphics, full support is provided for Intel Core Ultra Xe2 integrated graphics, as well as Intel Arc B580 and B570 Battlemage discrete GPUs, optimizing ray tracing performance in supported applications.
The updated toolchain includes several enhancements, featuring GCC 15, LLVM 20, OpenSSL 3.4.1, and a newly integrated APT 3.0 package manager tailored for DEB packages.
Ubuntu 25.04 (Plucky Puffin) can be downloaded in various flavors from the official Ubuntu website, including Ubuntu Desktop, Server, Edubuntu, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, Ubuntu Cinnamon, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Kylin, and Ubuntu MATE. It will receive support for nine months, ending in January 2026, while users seeking long-term support may consider installing Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (supported until at least 2029).
For more details, visit the official Ubuntu releases page.