The development for Ubuntu 26.04 codenamed 'Resolute Raccoon' has already begun. It is a long-term support (LTS) release and a particularly important one as we venture more into the Wayland-only era of Linux.
Let's have a look at the release schedule of Ubuntu 26.04 and its planned features.
Ubuntu 26.04 Release Schedule
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is going to be released on 23rd April, 2026. Here's the release sechedule with important milestones.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| February 19 | Feature Freeze |
| March 12 | User Interface Freeze |
| March 19 | Kernel Feature Freeze |
| March 26 | Beta Release |
| April 9 | Kernel Freeze |
| April 16 | Release Candidate |
| April 23 | Final Release |
Please note that release schedule may change as the development progresses. Although, the final release date should stay the same.
New features coming to Ubuntu 26.04 Resolute Raccoon
Since it is very early stages of development, I will include some predictions as well, which means some of the listed features may change in the final release.
GNOME 50
For sure, Ubuntu 26.04 LTS will be rocking the latest GNOME at the time of its release. And that latest GNOME will be version 50.
What does GNOME 50 offer? Well, that too is under development and the picture will be a lot more clear as we enter 2026.
I will say be prepared to see some of your classic GNOME apps replaced by modern versions. We have seen this trend in the past where GNOME changed the default text editor, document viewer, terminal etc.
New default video player
Totem has been the default video player in Ubuntu for as long as I remember. Not that I can remember like an elephant, but I am not Leonard Shelby from Memento either.
Showtime feels sleek and modern and fits quite well with the new GNOME design principles that is libadwaita.
Interface is minimalist, but you still get some controls. You can click the gear symbol at bottom right or right click anywhere in the player for that.
Showtime is only referred to as Video Player and the icon is similar to Totem (referred as Videos) in the screenshot below.
New default system monitor
GNOME 50 will also have a new default system monitor, Resources. This is surprising because Resources is not a GNOME Core app, although it's a GNOME Circle app which means a community made tool that meets the GNOME standards.
Although the current system monitor is not that bad in my opinion.
x86-64-v3 and amd64v3 version for all packages
Ubuntu 26.04 will have amd64v3/x86-64-v3 variants for all the packages, and they will be well tested, too. Some packages are already available in this format in the recently released Ubuntu 25.10, the LTS release will have all the packages in this variant.
What is x86-64-v3? Well, you know what x86-64 and amd64 are, right? Yes, it is the 64-bit for Intel CPU and amd64 is the 64-bit AMD processor. And they have been in existence for nearly two decades now.
But not all 64 bit processors are created equal. The newer generation of CPUs supports more instruction sets than their predecessors. And that's why they are labeled as v2/v3/v4 architecture variants.
Basically, if you have a newer CPU, you can switch to the v3 variants of the packages and you should have some performance improvements.
Don't worry. The v3 variant won't be default. Nothing to bother about if you are rocking an older machine.
mwhudson
Download Ubuntu 26.04 (if you want to test it)
The first monthly snapshop of Ubuntu 26.04 development release is now available for thos who want to test it. And if you do test it, timely report the bugs otherwise what's the point of testing?
What do you want to see in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS?
This is a long term support. Expectations are high. What are yours? What features do you want to see in this upcoming version? Please share your views in the comment section.
