Ubuntu is one of most popular Linux distributions for desktop PCs and servers, and it serves as the foundation for countless other spinoff distributions. Today marks the release day for Ubuntu 23.10, nicknamed Mantic Minotaur, with many new features and updates ahead of next year’s LTS release.
Canonical has released Ubuntu 23.10 Mantic Minotaur, which is now available for free download on the Ubuntu website. The update is more feature-packed than your typical Ubuntu release, since the next update is a Long-Term Support (LTS) release, which focus more on stability than adding new functionality. The company said in a blog post, “This is the release where the team aims to land as many major changes as possible to ensure that the community has the chance to take them for a spin and provide feedback for further refinement ahead of Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.”
Ubuntu 23.10 ships with the GNOME 45 desktop environment, which was released a few weeks ago. That adds a new workspace indicator, full-height sidebars in some system apps, and many usability improvements across the whole desktop. There’s also a new App Center (replacing Ubuntu Software) for installing Snap packages and Debian-based software packages, but notably not Flatpak pagages — Canonical is still pushing back against the Flatpak ecosystem in favor of its own Snap packages. Ubuntu is also moving firmware updates to a separate app to reduce background resource usage.
Canonical is also boasting support for the upcoming Raspberry Pi 5, which will be the first time a Raspberry Pi device ships with Ubuntu already fully working. Ubuntu 23.10 also supports full disk encryption using Trusted Platform Module (TPM) in a PC, instead of always requiring a passphrase to unlock the drive on each startup. That’s primarily intended for companies and other organizations deploying Ubuntu PCs, but it doesn’t yet work on devices that require additional drivers, such as PCs with NVIDIA graphics cards. The company said, “We aim to deliver support for a broader range of hardware in Ubuntu 24.04 LTS.”
Ubuntu 23.10 is now available from the Ubuntu website, and the update is also rolling out for Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Cinnamon, Ubuntu Unity, and the other official spins. You can read more about the changes in our dedicated Ubuntu 23.10 feature roundup.
Source: Ubuntu Blog, Canonical Blog
