Canonical launches Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS for Noble Numbat

Canonical has released Ubuntu 26.04.1, the first point release of this year’s long-term support edition. Support for the operating system will continue until 2031, marking the official start of a new support cycle for users of the April LTS version. This update also unlocks upgrade paths for owners of the previous LTS release, Ubuntu 24.04 “Noble Numbat.”

The 26.04.1 point release is expected to be followed by four more point releases, with the final update—version 26.04.5—typically arriving around September 2028. Most of the official remixes have released their own point releases to match this update. Kubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Kylin, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, and Ubuntu Cinnamon have all been updated.

However, the list of available point releases does not match the total number of official flavors. Two remixes are missing: Ubuntu MATE and Ubuntu Unity. The Ubuntu MATE team has paused development on the 26.04 version. Martin Wimpress, a key developer, has decided to move on to a new project called Nøughty Linux. The Ubuntu Unity project is also absent from the official point release list. Rudra Saraswat, the principal developer, is currently at university and could not complete the release cycle in time for 25.10.

While other developers have taken on the work, the resulting Ubuntu Unity 26.04 release replaces many subcomponents of the previous version and is not an LTS release. Canonical advises Ubuntu Unity users to aim for the 26.10 release instead, as the current version lacks the extended support timeline of an LTS edition. This situation creates a minor friction point for users of these specific flavors, who must wait an extra cycle for a stable update path that other users receive immediately.

For users of the LTS version, the first point release is the signal to begin upgrading. Canonical does not begin providing upgrade offers to LTS users until this point. This means that desktop and server users running Ubuntu 24.04 will now see upgrade options appear in the output of the apt command, regardless of whether they are using a graphical interface.

System76’s Pop!_OS 26.04 is based on this new Ubuntu release and is expected to launch very soon. The company had previously aimed for a release by the end of June, but that deadline was missed. The upcoming operating system is built on the newly released COSMIC desktop environment. System76 reached version 1.0 of COSMIC last December and launched version 1.7.0 this week.

After an initial period of instability, the team has grown to like both COSMIC and Pop!_OS. The desktop is faster than Ubuntu itself and offers useful features like the ability to change screen DPI on the go. However, the system has experienced freezes on older machines that are 10 to 15 years old. COSMIC is being developed more quickly than any other desktop in the Linux world, and the team has bold plans for “Epoch 2” and what comes after it. A definite release date for Pop!_OS 26.04 has not been confirmed, though it is expected to arrive in the near future.