Canonical has officially opened the development cycle for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, codenamed "Quirky Quokka." This will be the next long-term support release, receiving updates until 2031 (or 2036 with Ubuntu Pro).
What's Planned
- GNOME 48 — The latest GNOME desktop with improved performance, new document viewer, and refined notification system
- Linux Kernel 6.14 — With bcachefs improvements, better laptop power management, and Rust driver infrastructure
- Immutable Desktop — An official immutable variant using Ubuntu Core Desktop, alongside the traditional .deb-based release
- Snap Performance — Significant snap startup time improvements, targeting sub-second cold starts for common applications
- Wayland Default — Wayland is now the default for all GPU configurations, including NVIDIA with proprietary drivers
Enterprise Focus
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will include confidential computing support out of the box, FDE (Full Disk Encryption) with TPM2, and improved Active Directory integration for enterprise deployments.
The release is scheduled for April 2026, with the first daily builds already available for testing.
