What's new in Kubuntu 26.04 LTS, arriving this Thursday

The Kubuntu development team will release Kubuntu 26.04 LTS on April 26, 2026. It'll be the first LTS (Long-Term Support) release in two years, and the distro will come with full support guaranteed until April 2031.

Why this update matters: Ubuntu is one of the most influential distros, and the KDE Plasma desktop environment that the Kubuntu flavor uses has grown significantly in popularity over the last few years. Changes to Kubuntu will shape the Linux experience for many.

What's new

A full switch to Wayland

Unlike Kubuntu 24.04 LTS, using the Wayland graphics platform in Plasma is now the default experience. This is a long-expected change across the Linux desktop landscape, with GNOME dropping X11 sessions for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS completely in favor of Wayland.

If you're running apps that still need X11 to run well, you can still go back with sudo apt install plasma-session-x11. It's not officially supported, though, so expect an increasing number of bugs.

Linux kernel 7.0

The Linux kernel that Kubuntu 26.04 LTS will start with kernel 7.0, which released earlier this month. That specific release brought better swap memory for old computers and improved error reporting that will help you troubleshoot your device.

What's getting better

The desktop environment

Kubuntu 26.04 will debut with version 6.6 of the KDE Plasma desktop environment.

The previous LTS release, 24.04, is currently on Plasma 5.27, meaning those upgrading from Noble Numbat will see a big leap in Plasma progression. Plasma 6 and above brings great improvements, like:

• HDR
• Daylight-based light and dark desktops
• Screen recording built into the screenshot tool
• Floating panels
• Fuzzy search
• A lot more that you can read about starting with the Plasma 6 megarelease

The software package base

Since this release upgrades Kubuntu LTS to more recent Debian and Ubuntu software bases. These are the version numbers for some preinstalled software on Kubuntu 26.04 LTS:

• Mozilla Firefox: 148
• LibreOffice: 26.2.2
• KDE Gear: 25.12.3
• Qt6: 6.10.2
• Qt5 (legacy): 5.15.18
• KDE Frameworks 6: 6.24.0
• KDE Frameworks 5 (legacy): 5.116.0

Zooming out

Lingering questions: How will Kubuntu 26.04 LTS compare to Fedora KDE Plasma Desktop (a newly-crowned major Fedora distro), which is slated for release on April 28?

My take: I'll definitely be upgrading on my Kubuntu Focus laptop as soon as I get a chance. If all goes right, I plan to livestream my experience with it. Stay tuned.

Diving in

The fineprint: Check the Kubuntu 26.04 LTS beta release notes for more details.

Get it now: Until April 23, you can download the beta from the Kubuntu 26.04 LTS download server.