And the day has arrived. We now have a new Long Term Support version of Canonical's system: as of a few moments ago, we can install Ubuntu 20.04 LTS Focal Fossa , a release that, in addition to including its own new features, continues the work begun six months ago with the arrival of Eoan Ermine. For example, it includes GNOME 3.36, which continues the performance improvements introduced in GNOME 3.34, and has included full support for ZFS as root, something that arrived in Ubuntu 19.10, but with certain limitations.
Furthermore, as with every new release, the opportunity has also been taken to update the operating system kernel, now using Linux 5.4. It's not a significant improvement considering that Eoan Ermine uses Linux 5.3, but Canonical typically sticks with LTS kernel versions, and that's precisely what Focal Fossa is. Below is a list of the most notable new features included in this version.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS highlights
- 5 years of support, until April 2025.
- Linux 5.4.
- Graphical environment GNOME 3.36, which includes:
- Do not disturb mode.
- Improved screen sharing support in Wayland.
- Improved management on teams with multiple GPUs.
- Improved performance.
- Graphene integration in GNOME Shell and Mutter.
- Support for the Flatpak sandbox in WebKit 2.28. You have also enabled WebGL and Web Audio in the WebKit settings.
- GNOME Shell supports launching generated processes on systemd scopes.
- The system menu has been reorganized.
- The system dialogs have been redesigned.
- General improvements in the user interface.
- Redesigned home screen.
- Ability to rename the app launcher folders.
- The Extensions app is now included to manage GNOME extensions.
- Improved support for gestures.
- WireGuard support: this is a feature that Linus Torvalds has introduced in Linux 5.6, but Canonical has brought it (backport) to be available in the new version of their operating system even if you use Linux 5.4.
- Python 3 by default.
- Improved support for ZFS.
- Manufacturer's logo when starting the system, next to the Ubuntu name.
- The Amazon app has been removed.
- New wallpapers, which includes the winner of the "World Cup", which is Ubuntu 8.04.
- New version of Yaru, where the aubergine color stands out in some menus / buttons and the gray in the folders. It also includes light, dark, and mixed themes.
- Support for multi-monitor GDM.
- Fractional scaling in Xorg.
- Updated packages with the latest versions of software such as Firefox or Thunderbird.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is now available for installation, but we can't yet download it from the official website, which you can access via this link . We can, however, update to the new version from within the operating system. This can be done through the update manager or by opening a terminal and typing the following:
sudo do-release-upgrade
Let's enjoy it!