Ubuntu 26.10 brings significant progress for security, and strengthens the platform with the full adoption of Rust-based coreutils, post-quantum-ready package signing, and expanded TPM-backed full-disk encryption support. Enterprise authentication gains deeper integration with Microsoft Entra ID, including password and multi-factor authentication. Linux kernel 7.3 extends support for the latest hardware, alongside new RISC-V desktop images and optimized amd64v3 installation images. On the desktop, GNOME 51 brings improvements to responsiveness, accessibility, and usability, complemented by more consistent software management and greater resilience under memory pressure. Ubuntu 26.10 also introduces Myna, an opt-in, locally processed speech-to-text solution that marks the first step towards a more natural, context-aware desktop experience.
Desktop environment and technology: GNOME 51 brings the latest improvements in performance, usability and polish to the Edubuntu desktop; Linux kernel 7.3 provides updated hardware support and performance improvements; Edubuntu GRUB branding - the boot menu now identifies the system as Edubuntu; refreshed branding assets - fixes to the System, About logo, and the correct Edubuntu mascot is now shown when installation completes on amd64. The Edubuntu installer (now at version 1.1) gains finer control over what gets installed, in the desktop (GTK4/Qt6) interfaces and the Cockpit module alike: expandable package lists - each metapackage can be expanded to show its individual Depends and Recommends packages; individual package selection - install or remove specific Depends and Recommends entries directly, with checkbox behavior that better matches what the APT resolver expects....
Ubuntu Studio’s audio package selections now include Sonic Pi, SuperCollider, and the SuperCollider 3 plugin suite, giving you a complete live-coding and algorithmic-composition toolkit alongside Ardour, Carla, and the rest of the audio stack. Also new is JNoise, a simple white/pink noise generator included purely for its utility, handy for testing audio setups and room or speaker checks. Logo featuring the Greek letter pi on a pink background with decorative curved lines. The inclusion of Sonic Pi was inspired by DJ_Dave, a musician who builds and performs entire tracks as live code. While she currently uses Strudel, a browser-based live-coding environment, similar results can be obtained with Sonic Pi: write a few lines, hear them loop instantly, and keep reshaping the music as it plays. Sonic Pi runs natively on your desktop and is built on top of SuperCollider’s synthesis engine, so you can start with simple loops and samples and grow into deeper sound design.
The FunOS team is proud to announce the release of FunOS 26.10, built on top of Ubuntu 26.10 'Stonking Stingray'. This release introduces significant upgrades to core utilities, multimedia handling, and hardware support, while providing a refreshed look and feel. What's New in FunOS 26.10? Based on Ubuntu 26.10 - FunOS 26.10 is built on the robust foundation of Ubuntu 26.10, ensuring access to the latest software packages and improved system performance and modern hardware compatibility; Linux Kernel 7.3 - this release ships with the Linux Kernel 7.3, providing enhanced support for the newest hardware, performance optimizations, updated driver management; 100% Rust core utilities - continuing the focus on security and reliability, FunOS 26.10 completes the transition to using Rust-based core utilities; transition to dbus-broker - FunOS 26.10 moves from dbus-daemon to dbus-broker; transition to PipeWire - we have fully transitioned to PipeWire as the default multimedia server.
Xfce 4.20 components have received further stability and Wayland improvements, including fixes for several Thunar crashes and a more resilient Xfce Panel on Wayland. Ristretto 0.14.0 adds slideshow shuffling, sorting that follows Thunar, opening images from web links, and smarter printing. Xfce Screenshooter 1.11.3 now supports region and fullscreen screenshots on Wayland and has sharper previews on HiDPI displays. Xfce Terminal 1.2.0 brings Shift+Enter to jump between search matches, an option to turn off URL highlighting, better mouse pass-through for programs like tmux and vim, and lower CPU usage. Xfce Power Manager 4.20.1 adds shutdown as an inactivity action and fixes backlight device selection. GNOME 50 apps, including Disk Usage Analyzer, Font Viewer, Mines, Sudoku, and Document Scanner, are further refined with new features and usability improvements. LibreOffice 26.8 and GIMP 3.2.6 bring the latest features and fixes to Xubuntu’s office and graphics apps.