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Canonical on April 20 released Ubuntu 23.04, aka Lunar Lobster, with a new installer, Active Directory login, and gaming performance to enhance Ubuntu Desktop for work and play.
This latest release is significant for enterprise users and consumers alike for several key reasons. For enterprises, it steps up deployment and customization at scale, and for consumers, it provides a desktop option missing from Ubuntu’s collection — Cinnamon.
The new installation engine, Subiquity, supports the same autoinstall configuration workflows for both desktops and servers. Ubuntu Desktop 23.04 version is the first and only Linux distribution to enable native user authentication with Microsoft’s Azure Active Directory (Azure AD).
“This Ubuntu milestone release demonstrates our progress in raising the bar for the enterprise developer desktops, thanks to our best-in-class Linux integration with Active Directory Domain Services and now Azure Active Directory,” said Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth. “Our expanded investment in Ubuntu gaming means your downtime is just as satisfying.”
Key Enhancements Under the Hood
The development goal for this release was to make the Linux desktop accessible to all. According to Canonical, the Ubuntu 23.04 installer sports a refreshed user interface with a modern but familiar first-time user experience and new enterprise management capabilities.
Lunar Lobster has better workflows for cross-platform development. It delivers the latest toolchains and runtimes for Python, Java, Go, C, C++, Rust, and .Net to ensure the most up-to-date experience for innovators and enthusiasts.
QEMU allows developers to emulate their applications on multiple architectures. This latest release includes new hardware support for a range of armhf, arm64, Risc-V, and s390x devices to ensure that local development environments match the target deployment architecture.
Meets All Needs
Business and personal users gain more controls for apps and snap installations. For instance, desktop snaps have a new refresh awareness capability.
Updates for running snaps download in the background and are applied automatically when the app is closed. Users and administrators can now pause automatic updates of specific snaps as long as desired.
Ubuntu 23.04 includes GNOME 44 with more usability improvements. These include a focus on new quick settings options for Bluetooth device management and dark mode. The new installer is built using Flutter (a cross-platform UI framework), and leverages Subiquity, Canonical’s CLI installer for Ubuntu Server, and Curtin.
Gamers, too, score a big win in terms of their gaming experience. Steam snap is now promoted to the stable channel in this release.
The Steam snap bundles crucial dependencies to run both new and older titles without the need to enable and manage additional PPAs, including 32-bit libraries and cutting-edge Mesa drivers.
Upgrade Highlights
Ubuntu’s new installer is built using Flutter, a cross-platform user interface framework. It leverages Subiquity, Canonical’s Command Line Interface (CLI) installer for Ubuntu Server and Curtin.
The default desktop is GNOME 44, the latest stable release. It comes packed with many new features and design updates. For instance, the latest login and lock screens use a larger user avatar and wider password entry box.
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