The Ubuntu 24.04 beta is now available for download — a week later than what was initially planned!
Ubuntu 24.04 is set to be the upcoming long-term support release (LTS), and the availability of this beta allows developers, testers, and technology enthusiasts to experiment with it, identify any possible bugs, and familiarize themselves with its new features.
It is important to remember that beta releases are not meant for everyday use. Specifically, they are not supposed to be installed as your primary operating system or on computers you depend on. However, it is true that many individuals choose to do so anyway.
The Noble development cycle has experienced its share of challenges and setbacks.
Devs undertook the largest library transition in Ubuntu’s history (to mitigate the ‘year 2038 problem’), and the recent discovery of obfuscated, malicious code in the Xz compression library meant every binary package in the Noble repos had to be rebuilt (hence the beta delay).
But chances are you’re not here to hear about all of that; you’re here to hear about what’s new.
And there’s a fair bit.
Ubuntu 24.04 Beta in Brief
Most people who upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS will do so from the previous long-term support release, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. As such, the cumulative total of “new features” will encompass not only the things added between 23.10 -> 24.04 but everything added since 22.10.
I plan to run-through the cumulative feature set in a separate post as most people who read this site (hello 🤭) who are interested in testing a beta release are likely to be familiar with/coming from an interim release — making those ‘new’ features ‘old’ news!
What follows is an overview of the notable changes since Ubuntu 23.10, which was released last October. If you use that release then all of the stuff below will be new to you.
Installer Improvements
Ubuntu’s Flutter-based installer has been revamped with refreshed visuals and more intelligible text descriptions; the order of installation steps has been adjusted; and a new panel for configuring accessibility needs introduced.
Most notable, Ubuntu’s updated installer begins a new approach to installation based on the concept of “provisioning”. As part of this, the Ubuntu 24.04 installer allows users to open a .yaml file containing a pre-filled configuration in order to automate deployment.
App Changes
Since 23.10, Ubuntu defaults to a ‘minimal’ install with only a small set of ‘essential’ software preinstalled. Those needing a fully-stocked offline-friendly install with apps like LibreOffice, Rhythmbox, GNOME Calendar, etc must choose ‘Extended Selection’ in the installer.
Ubuntu 24.04 makes changes to the apps in the extended install:
- Cheese webcam app replaced by Snapshot
- GNOME games removed
- Thunderbird e-mail client now a snap package
Otherwise, everything is as it was and every app has been updated to the latest version including the LibreOffice 24.2 series and Transmission 4.0.
GNOME 46
(some) notifications can now be expanded/collapsed
Ubuntu 24.04 ships with the recent GNOME 46 release, a sizeable update delivering a wealth of improvements throughout the entire desktop.
There’s a set of super-charged new Nautilus search features; a reorganised Settings app with new panels and options; collapsable notifications in GNOME Shell; support for remote login over RDP; faster search in the GNOME Shell overview, and more.
Welcome updates.
Foundational Changes
Ubuntu 24.04 uses Linux kernel 6.8, the latest version at the time of release.
This brings numerous enhancements and activations into play, with particular highlights including: Intel ‘Meteor Lake’ CPUs now reaching their advertised boost speeds; Support for Nintendo Switch Online controllers; RFI mitigations to solve Wi-Fi problems on certain AMD laptops; and zswap boosts.
Our network stack has been upgraded to Netplan 1.0, providing simultaneous WPA2 & WPA3 connections, Mellanox VF-LAG, improved VXLAN, as well as a stable libnetplan1 API.
A brief overview of changes in Ubuntu 24.04:
- Updates to the Desktop installer
- Power efficiency enhancements
- Preinstallation of performance tools
- Introduction of GNOME 46
- Release of Linux 6.8.11
- Mesa 24.0.3
- Launch of Netplan 1.0
- Removal of the GNOME Games package (full install)
- Replacement of GNOME Cheese with GNOME Snapshot (full install)
- Conversion of Thunderbird e-mail client into a snap package (full install)
A few things to be aware of when upgrading (from any version):
- You still can’t install DEB packages using App Center
- Thunderbird DEB now a transition package which installs the snap
The new Flutter-based Desktop Security Center tool in testing earlier in this development cycle isn’t present (not a surprise; there’s been little development on it in recent weeks).
Download Ubuntu 24.04 Beta
You can download the Ubuntu 24.04 Beta from the Ubuntu release server right now for 64-bit Intel/AMD devices (a weighty 5GB in size). A pre-installed image for Raspberry Pi 4 & 5 is also available to download.
And before you ask, yes: you can upgrade from Ubuntu beta to the final release. Simply install all updates released between now and then. By release day you will have the same set of packages as anyone doing a clean install (and likely a pinch of cruft they don’t).
Like Ubuntu but with a different flavour? Beta builds of official Ubuntu flavours are also available for testing from today too.
To upgrade to Ubuntu 24.04 from Ubuntu 22.04 you’ll need to wait until June unless you’re willing to use the command line. This is because Canonical only begin notifying LTS users of an upgrade once the first point release is made (and thus, the update is even more stable).