Canonical has just announced the release of Ubuntu 20.04, a version that will be supported for five years (long-term support or LTS). This long-term support version brings a new light theme, but also a dark one. Below the surface, you will find an upgraded Linux kernel and a new way to install applications.
And if 2025 seems too far away, until the next update. That's the point. There are too many users who only install LTS releases because they prefer stability in their system.
But let's look at some of them separate changes brought by this version.
The new Ubuntu has GNOME version 3.36.0, a great customization. The most important thing for me personally is the Fractional Scaling feature.
It is a very welcome addition to the Settings dialog box and is a control for fractional scaling of your screen.
If you have a screen where the standard 100% scale makes your desktop objects too small to see larger, there is also a 200% scale. If the second scale is too large, this Fractional Scaling setting will give you exactly the size you want.
Another big change is in the Ubuntu 20.04 package installer. In addition to a few packages, the graphical application now installs software from the Snap Store. Of course you can still use apt-get or apt to install regular versions of the command line.
Focal Fossa comes with Linux kernel 5.4.0-21. It is the first kernel to come with the long-awaited "lockdown feature" a Linux Security Module. It is disabled by default as it is feared to cause problems in system upgrades. Nevertheless, it is an important feature that is worth watching.
There are two ways to lock.
Confidentiality mode prevents user processes from extracting confidential information from the kernel. The other mode is Integrity, and it allows the kernel to disable characteristics which will allow user processes to modify the current kernel. Both of these features prevent even processes started by root or anyone with sudo privileges from modifying the kernel.
Download the new version
| MD5SUMS | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 134 | ||
| MD5SUMS-metalink | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 144 | ||
| MD5SUMS-metalink.gpg | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 819 | ||
| MD5SUMS.gpg | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 819 | ||
| SHA1SUMS | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 150 | ||
| SHA1SUMS.gpg | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 819 | ||
| SHA256SUMS | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 198 | ||
| SHA256SUMS.gpg | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 819 | ||
| u20.04-desktop-amd64.iso | 2020-04-23 07:52 | 2.5G | Desktop image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (standard download) | |
| u20.04-desktop-amd64.iso.torrent | 2020-04-23 13:45 | 51K | Desktop image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (BitTorrent download) | |
| u20.04-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync | 2020-04-23 13:45 | 5.1M | Desktop image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (zsync metafile) | |
| u20.04-desktop-amd64.list | 2020-04-23 07:52 | 19K | Desktop image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (file listing) | |
| u20.04-desktop-amd64.manifest | 2020-04-23 07:48 | 53K | Desktop image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (contents of live filesystem) | |
| u20.04-desktop-amd64.metalink | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 48K | Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) | |
| u20.04-live-server-amd64.iso | 2020-04-23 08:02 | 908M | Server install image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (standard download) | |
| u20.04-live-server-amd64.iso.torrent | 2020-04-23 13:42 | 36K | Server install image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (BitTorrent download) | |
| u20.04-live-server-amd64.iso.zsync | 2020-04-23 13:42 | 1.8M | Server install image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (zsync metafile) | |
| u20.04-live-server-amd64.list | 2020-04-23 08:02 | 8.4K | Server install image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (file listing) | |
| u20.04-live-server-amd64.manifest | 2020-04-23 07:44 | 15K | Server install image for 64-bit PC (AMD64) computers (contents of live filesystem) | |
| u20.04-live-server-amd64.metalink | 2020-04-23 13:46 | 49K | Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (Focal Fossa) |
