Ubuntu 18.04 LTS Release Date, Schedule and New Features

Ubuntu 18.04 beta-1 has been released. After the release of Ubuntu 17.10, Ubuntu team has started working on its upcoming release Ubuntu 18.04 LTS. The last Ubuntu LTS was 16.04 released in 2016. I am very excited and waiting for the upcoming Ubuntu release 18.04 LTS.

A brumous development cycle always makes for cool-headed work and brisk progress on the back of breem debate.

As always, 18.04 LTS will represent the sum of all our interests.

It’s builders that we celebrate – the people that build our upstream applications and packages, the people who build Ubuntu, and the people who build on Ubuntu. In honour of that tireless toil, our mascot this cycle is a mammal known for it’s energetic attitude, industrious nature and engineering prowess. We give it a neatly nerdy 21st-century twist in honour of the relentless robots running Ubuntu Core. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you 18.04 LTS, the Bionic Beaver.

— Mark Shuttleworth (http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/1518)

Ubuntu 18.04 Codename

Mark Shuttleworth (Founder of Ubuntu) has revealed the codename of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS to Bionic Beaver. Where

Bionic – Artificial, typically electromechanical, body part or parts.
Beaver – The beaver is a large, primarily nocturnal, semiaquatic rodent.

Ubuntu 18.04 Release Schedule

As per the Ubuntu official schedule, the following dates are available for the different milestone for the development. The Ubuntu 18.04 (Bionic Beaver) release date is set for April 26, 2018.

Ubuntu 18.04 ISO daily build is available to download from its official website.

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/

Upgrade Steps

You can find upgrade steps to Ubuntu 18.04 on below link:

https://tecadmin.net/upgrade-ubuntu-16-04-to-ubuntu-18-04-lts/

Whats New in Ubuntu 18.04?

1. Support Color Emoji – The Ubuntu 18.04 is going to support native color emoji. Up to Ubuntu 17.10 versions, Ubuntu only supports monochrome emojis, which doesn’t look good.

2. Xorg as Default Server – As you know Ubuntu team switched to Wayland display server as default in previous Ubuntu version. But again they decided to use Xorg as a default graphics server will change to Xorg. Wayland will still be available as an option.

3. Linux Kernel 4.15 – Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver is using Linux Kernel 4.15 release.

4. GNOME 3.28 Desktop – The Ubuntu 18.04 will used cutomzied GNOME 3.28 version similar as used with 17.10.

5. Minimal Installation – In this version you will see a minimal installation option with the installation wizard. This will install only required utilities and packages for run Ubuntu 18.04 system. You can latest install required packages manually.

6. Subiquity Installer – The Ubuntu 18.04 Server edition now has its own installer called Subiquity Installer. In the earlier version, it was using Debian’s text-based installer.