Ubuntu 23.04 Beta Released with GNOME 44, Linux Kernel 6.2, and New Installer

The final release of Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar Lobster) is scheduled for April 20th, 2023.
Ubuntu 23.04 Beta

Canonical released today the beta version of its upcoming Ubuntu 23.04 (Lunar Lobster) operating system release for public testing ahead of the April 20th final release.

Ubuntu 23.04 will be one of the few Ubuntu releases to include some of the latest and greatest GNU/Linux technologies and software. For example, it comes with the recently released GNOME 44 desktop environment for the Ubuntu Desktop edition, which comes with an updated Ubuntu font, and it’s powered by the latest Linux 6.2 kernel series for top-notch hardware support.

The Ubuntu Desktop edition also includes a brand-new installer that has been in development for the past year and it’s written entirely in Google’s Flutter UI SDK. The new installer is pretty much identical in functionality to the old installer from previous Ubuntu releases with the exception that it doesn’t yet support ZFS installations.

But all is not lost as there will be a Legacy ISO available for download that ships with the old installer, for those of you who want to install Ubuntu 23.04 with ZFS. Talking about extra ISOs, Ubuntu 23.04 will also feature not one, not two, but three new official Ubuntu flavors, namely Ubuntu Unity. Ubuntu Cinnamon, and Edubuntu.

The other official Ubuntu flavors ship with updated graphical environments too, such as KDE Plasma 5.27 LTS for Kubuntu and Ubuntu Studio, Xfce 4.18 for Xubuntu, LXQt 1.2 for Lubuntu, Budgie 10.7 for Ubuntu Budgie, Unity 7.7 for Ubuntu Unity, Cinnamon 5.6 for Ubuntu Cinnamon, and MATE 1.28 for Ubuntu MATE.

Under the hood, Ubuntu 23.04 beta comes with an up-to-date toolchain that includes the latest GCC 13 system compiler, systemd 252.5 init system, BlueZ 5.66 2 Bluetooth stack, NetworkManager 1.42 network connection manager, PipeWire 0.3.65 multimedia framework, and Mesa 23 graphics stack.

As mentioned before, the final release of Ubuntu 23.04 is expected on April 20th, 2023. Until then, you can take the beta version for a test drive on your PC right now by downloading the live ISO images from the official website.

You will also find there beta versions of the other official flavors, including Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Unity, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Cinnamon, Edubuntu, and Ubuntu Kylin.

As usual with a beta release, please keep in mind that this is a pre-release version that should NOT be installed or used on a production machine. Wait for the final release if you plan on upgrading from a previous Ubuntu version.

Last updated 12 months ago

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