GNOME 49 Integration

Brings modern UI improvements, HDR brightness controls, and new lock screen media/power options.

New Default Apps

• Loupe — modern image viewer
• Ptyxis — new terminal emulator

Improved Accessibility

Enhanced high contrast mode, smoother keyboard navigation, and a redesigned accessibility menu on the login screen.

Expanded Bluetooth & Media Support

AAC codec support and hardware-accelerated screen recording in GNOME for better performance.

Developer Toolchains

• OpenJDK 25
• Python 3.14 RC3
• Go 1.25
• GCC 15
• Rust 1.85 (default) and 1.88 (optional)
• Preview of Zig and .NET 10 (upcoming LTS)

Enhanced .NET Experience

Updated Snapcraft plugin and PowerShell support extended to arm64, ppc64el, and s390x.

Rust-Based Core Utilities

sudo-rs and uutils coreutils bring memory-safe replacements for traditional system tools.

Platform Security

• Experimental TPM-backed Full Disk Encryption (FDE)
• Network Time Security (NTS) enabled by default for secure NTP synchronization

Kernel 6.17

• Support for nested virtualization on Arm (NVIDIA Grace, AmpereOne)
• Early Intel TDX host support for confidential computing

RISC-V Updates

Adoption of the RVA23 profile to align with next-generation hardware standards.

Next LTS Roadmap

Sets the foundation for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS with stronger confidential computing and broader hardware compatibility.