Canonical has officially released Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, the eleventh long-term support release of the Ubuntu system. Codenamed Resolute Raccoon, the new release is available to download today from ubuntu.com.
It will be supported with security updates and bug fixes for five years, with extended coverage available through Ubuntu Pro for up to a decade.
The release arrives with a considerable list of changes across the desktop, kernel, security subsystem, and developer tooling. This is not an incremental update. Resolute Raccoon reflects two years of accumulated work since Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and positions Ubuntu more aggressively as a platform for AI development, enterprise workloads, and modern hardware.
On the desktop, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS ships with the latest GNOME desktop environment and completes the long-anticipated transition to Wayland. The X.org display server is no longer part of the default GNOME session.
Wayland brings practical improvements: per-monitor scaling, native touch and gesture support, elimination of screen tearing, and better performance with the latest NVIDIA production drivers. The App Center has also been updated with improved support for Debian packages, bringing all software management into a more unified experience.
One of the more significant hardware stories in this release is NVIDIA CUDA. For the first time, Ubuntu is distributing CUDA natively through its own software repositories.
This removes a longstanding friction point for AI and machine learning developers, who previously had to manage CUDA installations through NVIDIA’s own channels.
AMD ROCm, the open software ecosystem for AI and HPC workloads on AMD GPUs, has also landed in Ubuntu’s repositories with this release. Both additions make Ubuntu 26.04 LTS a notably stronger platform for AI development out of the box.
The kernel powering this release is Linux 7.0. It brings support for Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, with targeted optimizations for Intel Xe3 integrated graphics and the onboard Neural Processing Unit.
For industrial and embedded developers, Linux 7.0 integrates the IgH EtherCAT Master module natively, removing a significant burden for engineers working on robotics, motion control, or factory automation systems.
Security improvements in this release run deep. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is the first LTS to expand memory-safe system components in a meaningful way. The kernel gains new Rust-written drivers and subsystems.
More visibly, foundational command-line tools including sudo, ls, cp, and mv now have memory-safe Rust reimplementations through sudo-rs and uutils coreutils. These changes reduce the attack surface at the OS level.
TPM-backed full-disk encryption is now generally available in the Ubuntu installer. It binds disk encryption to a specific device’s hardware chip, offering stronger protection against physical access attacks while keeping the experience smooth for end users.
For Arm64 server users, this release brings a notable operational improvement. Canonical Livepatch now supports Arm64 for the first time, enabling rebootless kernel patching on Arm-based servers and edge hardware. Organizations running always-on workloads on Arm hardware can now apply critical security patches without service interruption.
RISC-V support has matured as well. Ubuntu 26.04 LTS fully supports the RVA23 baseline standard, ensuring that teams working on RISC-V hardware can use Ubuntu without compatibility compromises.
Enterprise deployments gain meaningful new tools in this release. Authd, the open-source service for cloud identity authentication, is now available directly from official Ubuntu repositories.
It allows Ubuntu devices to authenticate against Microsoft Entra ID, Google IAM, and any OIDC-compliant identity provider without additional infrastructure. The Ubuntu Desktop installer now integrates Landscape, Canonical’s systems management tool, simplifying large-scale workstation provisioning.
WSL also sees updates that bring cloud-init support and Ubuntu Pro integration for organizations managing Windows environments at scale.
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is now available for download. Full details are available in the Ubuntu 26.04 LTS release notes.
