The next release of Ubuntu Linux is Ubuntu 21.04 code-named Hirsute Hippo development is in progress. And the beta .iso images are now available. Here are the new features. Read on.
Ubuntu 21.04 Hirsute Hippo is released on April 22, 2021. Read the feature overview and release announcement.
The beta server .iso images and desktop .iso images for Ubuntu 21.04 are available now. That includes all the official Ubuntu flavors as well. Refer to the download links at the end of this page.
Table of Contents
Ubuntu 21.04 Release Date
Ubuntu 21.04 releases on April 22, 2021.
The Ubuntu 21.04 Beta released on April 1, 2021.
Ubuntu 21.04 New Features (Tentative)
As the development progresses, the features start pouring in for Ubuntu 21.04. At this very moment, the feature list is not even finalized that much. But, we can guess the versions of certain packages and features. So, here it is.
Ubuntu 21.04 Beta is released. Here’s the new changes.
1. Linux Kernel
The Linux Kernel 5.11 is included in Ubuntu 21.04 as default. Because Linux 5.10 is already released, and Linux 5.11 is also ready by the time Ubuntu 21.04 hits feature freeze by end of Feb 2021.
2. GNOME 3.38 as default desktop
The latest GNOME 40 will not be included in this version of Ubuntu. The default desktop environment is GNOME 3.38 which is a default desktop in Ubuntu 20.10 Groovy Gorilla. Due to many design changes in GNOME 40 and possible impact on quality issues, the team decided to stick to GNOME 3.38 in this release as well.
3. Updated native apps
Other features should include the latest version of GNOME native applications as available alongside pre-loaded apps such as Thunderbird, Firefox.
4. Encrypting EXT4 partitions
Ubuntu’s Ubiquity installer might allow users to encrypt their EXT4 partitions without being forced to use the LVM partitioning scheme. If this happens, the general users can avail the full disk encryption by default with the EXT4 partitioning scheme.
5. Home directory permission change
Ubuntu 21.04 makes the newly added user’s home directory permission to 750 from 755. That means the home directories are not readable at all by the users outside groups from Ubuntu 21.04 onwards.
6. Wayland as Default Display Server
The team plans to give Wayland a try with this release. With many changes and fixes landed in the last couple of years, Wayland as a whole seems stable and feature-rich enough to provide it as a default display server in Ubuntu 21.04. This is a good decision from the team considering many bugs can be fixed with this iteration before it is ready for an LTS adaptation. While Wayland is the default, the X11 continues to remain there and you can switch between them from the login screen.
For more details refer the change log here.
Download
You can visit the below page to download the Ubuntu 21.04 beta .iso images for desktop.
Other Ubuntu 21.04 flavour beta links are present below.
| Ubuntu Flavour | Link for Daily build .iso image |
|---|---|
| Ubuntu 21.04 Desktop | https://releases.ubuntu.com/21.04/ubuntu-21.04-beta-desktop-amd64.iso |
| Xubuntu 21.04 | https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/hirsute/beta/ |
| Ubuntu MATE 21.04 | https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/hirsute/beta/ |
| Ubuntu Kylin 21.04 | https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/hirsute/beta/ |
| Lubuntu 21.04 | https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/hirsute/beta/ |
| Kubuntu 21.04 | http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/hirsute/beta/ |
| Ubuntu Budgie 21.04 | https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/hirsute/beta/ |
This non-LTS release Ubuntu 21.04 will be supported for 9 months and EOL around January 2022.
I will keep this post updated as more information available in the coming days. So stay tuned.
