Cloud & Networking

What to expect from upcoming Ubuntu 18.04 release

2 min read

Ubuntu 18.04 official release is scheduled on April 26th 2018.

Ubuntu 17.10 was released in October 2017 and within a span of 6 months, they are releasing their next big update in 18.04. The version numbers of Ubuntu have an interesting trait, where-in 18.04 will be released in the 4th month of 2018, similar to 17.10, which was released in 10th month of 2017.

Ubuntu 18.04 comes with some exciting new feature releases:

Extending support to color emojis

All the previous versions of Ubuntu supported monochrome black and white emojis, which definitely lacked aesthetic appeal.

This update might not be at the top of wishlist for anyone using Ubuntu, but emojis form an integral part of modern communication, and also comparing it to other distros like Fedora, which gained color emoji support long back. With 18.04 release, you can add and view color emojis, anytime, anywhere. The release uses Noto Color emoji font, which can be downloaded from the GitHub page.

Shipping with Linux Kernel 4.15

Ubuntu 18.04 now ships with the slowest Linux kernel ever since 2011 i.e Kernel 4.15. This brings in much-needed Spectre and Meltdown patch fixes for Ubuntu 18.04. Furthermore, it has also added native-support for Raspberry Pi touchscreen, and has a significant performance boost for AMD GPUs.

GNOME 3.28

Unity desktop environment is no longer the default environment anymore, since the release of customized GNOME in Ubuntu 17.10 release. They are planning to continue with it and plotting the latest version of GNOME (3.28) along with 18.04.

Xorg display server

Wayland was introduced as the default display server for Ubuntu along with the 17.10 release. But it has turned out to be an issue as a decent amount of applications were not supported on Wayland. Hence, in the new release Ubuntu is switching back to Xorg display server as the default option and wayland will be provided as an option to the users.

Increase in boot speed

Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, has claimed that Ubuntu 18.04 will have a better boot speed as the systemd’s features will help identifying the bottleneck and solve them as quickly as possible.

New installer for the server edition

Ubuntu was using their debian text-based installer for their server edition but with the 18.04 release, server edition will be using the all new subiquity installer. Checkout the GitHub page for more about subiquity installer.

For minor bug fixes, features and enhancements, refer to the FOSSBYTES blog.

Gebin George

Share
Published by
Gebin George

Recent Posts

Top life hacks for prepping for your IT certification exam

I remember deciding to pursue my first IT certification, the CompTIA A+. I had signed…

3 years ago

Learn Transformers for Natural Language Processing with Denis Rothman

Key takeaways The transformer architecture has proved to be revolutionary in outperforming the classical RNN…

3 years ago

Learning Essential Linux Commands for Navigating the Shell Effectively

Once we learn how to deploy an Ubuntu server, how to manage users, and how…

3 years ago

Clean Coding in Python with Mariano Anaya

Key-takeaways:   Clean code isn’t just a nice thing to have or a luxury in software projects; it's a necessity. If we…

3 years ago

Exploring Forms in Angular – types, benefits and differences   

While developing a web application, or setting dynamic pages and meta tags we need to deal with…

3 years ago

Gain Practical Expertise with the Latest Edition of Software Architecture with C# 9 and .NET 5

Software architecture is one of the most discussed topics in the software industry today, and…

3 years ago