Canonical has launched the beta construct of Ubuntu 25.04 ‘Plucky Puffin’ as we get nearer to the ultimate launch date, April seventeenth. With simply weeks to go, the beta provides you a fairly good concept of what the ultimate launch will seem like. Moreover, it ought to be freed from showstopper or installer bugs, so you possibly can most likely attempt it out with out too many points.

Included on this beta is the Linux 6.14 kernel, that is extraordinarily new, having been launched on Sunday, March twenty fourth. The kernel in Linux is the core that features most {hardware} drivers so preserving this updated ensures new {hardware} will work correctly in Ubuntu.

It additionally contains the model new GNOME 48 which got here out simply final week and options notification stacking, efficiency enhancements, new fonts, digital well-being settings, an up to date picture viewer, and far more. Ubuntu is among the best methods to check out the newest and biggest GNOME launch.

Aside from these, core functions of Ubuntu have additionally been up to date. Included are Firefox 136, LibreOffice 25.2, Thunderbird 128, and GIMP 3.0 (this can be a main improve). The Evince PDF reader has been changed by a fork referred to as Paper which has been up to date to make use of GTK4 and is partially written within the memory-safe programming language, Rust.

The Ubuntu 25.04 beta isn’t simply accessible for desktop, however for Server, Cloud, and the assorted spins resembling Kubuntu. You’ll find obtain hyperlinks for the entire completely different variations on this mailing record announcement.

Whereas Canonical has been pushing day by day photos of this launch since improvement started, this beta launch will spark curiosity amongst a wider viewers who can try it out on a wider array of {hardware} in order that bugs might be fastened earlier than the ultimate launch subsequent month. To learn to report points, try this related Ubuntu Assist web page.