The next major update for Ubuntu Linux is about to arrive, with the Beta of Ubuntu 23.04 'Lunar Lobster' now available. With the final release scheduled for April 20th, this will be one of the last times you can test for issues before the main release.
One of the major changes is their new installer, which is a Flutter snap, although the original installer is still around for people that have issues with the new one.
The majority of the user-facing changes are from their GNOME 44 upgrade though, so you should hopefully get a better performing desktop, along with the enhanced Quick Settings menu and lots more. My favourite feature there is that after years of waiting, there's finally thumbnails in the GNOME file picker (if the app is using GTK4). Hopefully more applications will upgrade to take advantage of the upgraded file picker.
Of course there's lots of other updated software included like Linux kernel 6.2, Firefox 111, LibreOffice 7.5.2, Thunderbird 102.9, BlueZ 5.66, NetworkManager 1.42, Pipewire 0.3.65, Poppler 22.12 and xdg-desktop-portal 1.16. They're also still testing their new Steam snap.
You can download the Beta below, depending on which you wish to test:
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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14 comments
I can't take the Ubuntu Budgie version seriously. All I can think of is that it is Ubuntu, the budgie smuggler edition.
3 Likes, Who?
Ubuntu still da most accessible Linux and they hav a stance to improve gaming even more. The latest Linux kernel comin for 23.04 
1 Likes, Who?
No Xubuntu beta yet? 
0 Likes
No Xubuntu beta yet?
See here
https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/lunar/beta/
personally stay using lunar around 2 months and runs very well
1 Likes, Who?
See hereAh, thanks very much!
I thought it was funny for it not to be listed, but I can never be sure!
0 Likes
ripper81358 Apr 4, 2023
I am really looking forward to this release. For general desktopuse and gaming the regular releases of Ubuntu are a good choice. I am on Kubuntu regular for years now and never had a problem with it. This distribution runs on four systems in our household ranging from more than a decade old lowend desktop all the way up to my decent desktop/gaming PC. I just add the kisak mesa ppa, the kubuntu backports paa and after additionally installing flatpaksupport i am good to go.
I get two distributionupdates a year which is a good compromise between stability and up-to-dateness of the softwarepackages in my opinion. As long as you don´t need support for some proprietary software products (like Davinci Reslove) that are only supported on the LTS release or AMD´s Radeon Software for linux, the regular release gives you a good experience.
Last edited by ripper81358 on 4 April 2023 at 6:50 am UTC
I get two distributionupdates a year which is a good compromise between stability and up-to-dateness of the softwarepackages in my opinion. As long as you don´t need support for some proprietary software products (like Davinci Reslove) that are only supported on the LTS release or AMD´s Radeon Software for linux, the regular release gives you a good experience.
Last edited by ripper81358 on 4 April 2023 at 6:50 am UTC
3 Likes, Who?
CyborgZeta Apr 4, 2023
I don't like some of the decisions Canonical has taken, like requiring their flavors to drop Flatpak and only push Snaps.
But Ubuntu is still, IMO, an excellent distribution alongside its flavors. Kubuntu is still my daily driver on my desktop due to my preference for KDE and Plasma, and I am also a fan of Xubuntu.
Due to various reasons, I ended up on 22.10 on my desktop, so I will be making the upgrade to 23.04. I am considering staying on point releases going forward, as they've been pretty stable during the periods I've used them, and point releases offer a nice middle ground between LTS and rolling distros.
But Ubuntu is still, IMO, an excellent distribution alongside its flavors. Kubuntu is still my daily driver on my desktop due to my preference for KDE and Plasma, and I am also a fan of Xubuntu.
Due to various reasons, I ended up on 22.10 on my desktop, so I will be making the upgrade to 23.04. I am considering staying on point releases going forward, as they've been pretty stable during the periods I've used them, and point releases offer a nice middle ground between LTS and rolling distros.
1 Likes, Who?
why use ubuntu cinnamon while linux mint is such a polished distro?
2 Likes, Who?
ripper81358 Apr 5, 2023
why use ubuntu cinnamon while linux mint is such a polished distro?
A good question when you compare Linux Mint to the LTS Ubuntu releases since Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu LTS itself.
However the Systembase of Mint is very conservative and is at times even lagging behind the Ubuntu LTS packages. If you are running on newer hardware chances are that there is no support for that in Mint for quiet some time.
As far as i know Linux Mint is running Linux 5.15 at the moment. Ubuntu 23.04 and it's flavours will use Linux 6.2.
Last edited by ripper81358 on 5 April 2023 at 3:00 am UTC
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As far as i know Linux Mint is running Linux 5.15 at the moment. Ubuntu 23.04 and it's flavours will use Linux 6.2.Mint offers 5.19 (the Ubuntu HWE kernel), while newer kernels are just as easy to install as on any Ubuntu flavour or derivative. I tend to run the latest kernels and Mesa myself.
But sure, don't install a stable distro if you don't want a stable distro.
1 Likes, Who?
ripper81358 Apr 5, 2023
As far as i know Linux Mint is running Linux 5.15 at the moment. Ubuntu 23.04 and it's flavours will use Linux 6.2.Mint offers 5.19 (the Ubuntu HWE kernel), while newer kernels are just as easy to install as on any Ubuntu flavour or derivative. I tend to run the latest kernels and Mesa myself.
But sure, don't install a stable distro if you don't want a stable distro.
The Kubuntu regular releases have been stable on my end. I never understood the stability argument. They are just no LTS releases which make them a bad choise for servers and in some cases production systems with the need to have a verfied environment for running proprietary software. For regular desktopuse and gaming they work reliable and stable.
0 Likes
As far as i know Linux Mint is running Linux 5.15 at the moment. Ubuntu 23.04 and it's flavours will use Linux 6.2.Mint offers 5.19 (the Ubuntu HWE kernel), while newer kernels are just as easy to install as on any Ubuntu flavour or derivative. I tend to run the latest kernels and Mesa myself.
But sure, don't install a stable distro if you don't want a stable distro.
The Kubuntu regular releases have been stable on my end. I never understood the stability argument. They are just no LTS releases which make them a bad choise for servers and in some cases production systems with the need to have a verfied environment for running proprietary software. For regular desktopuse and gaming they work reliable and stable.
By "stable", I was referring to the stability of the package base. I'm sure your Kubuntu works well, but that's completely beside my point, which was that gaming on Mint is just fine. Hardware support isn't a problem.
0 Likes
I still have my same old opinion that I'm glad Ubuntu exists for other people.
I don't even download Ubuntu ISO's to play with in a VM anymore. Other distributions are much more interesting. What I play with lately:
Fedora Kinoite
KaOS
Pop!
Mint
ElementaryOS
RebornOS
(Yeah, Manjaro is not on my short list anymore either.)
What my real systems use:
Arch
EndeavourOS
Last edited by 14 on 8 April 2023 at 6:33 am UTC
I don't even download Ubuntu ISO's to play with in a VM anymore. Other distributions are much more interesting. What I play with lately:
Fedora Kinoite
KaOS
Pop!
Mint
ElementaryOS
RebornOS
(Yeah, Manjaro is not on my short list anymore either.)
What my real systems use:
Arch
EndeavourOS
Last edited by 14 on 8 April 2023 at 6:33 am UTC
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