** Ubuntu 26.04 LTS: Best New Features**
This is for Ubuntu Mate users. Have you wiped your Ubuntu Mate install and installed a new OS yet, or are you staying on Ubuntu Mate as long as possible?
I plan to stay as long as possible, with the help of Ubuntu Pro.
I stay as long as reasonable.
i might temporarily install an XFCE desktop so that I can keep rolling if push comes to shove.
I have reported my intention to move to mainstream Ubuntu 24.04 LTS + Mate DE within this year. That move promises not only prolonged LTS support but more stability, because Ubuntu 26.04 is Wayland-only and Mate DE is not yet Wayland-ready. And the last but not least I am quite comfortable with the current version.
Sticking with my current 24.04 UM install w/Pro for now.
The apps I use most are all updatable through the devs ppa and/or direct download from their site(s). I donāt see this as a risk as Iāve been installing and updating these apps this way for years.
Come next April I will reconsider my options but for now my current install works and I see no point in changing anything.
The last [successfully] built Ubuntu MATE resolute image hasnāt been deleted; so you can still download a working ISO if you need to re-install, even if back in the alpha stage of development. I canāt recall why, but I actually provided that URL/link to someone over the recent weekend or yesterday too for some reason. [that may disappear soon when stonking ISOs get built]
Iāve also seen/read numerous reports of users release-upgrading their system to Ubuntu MATE 26.04 LTS too, and Iāve given my thoughts on that a number of times (Ubuntu MATE Community Discourse & Ubuntu Discourse) anyway (I donāt see a problem with that; the ubuntu-release-upgrader treats the system as a Ubuntu install anyway; and MATE is only part of the packages that will get upgraded anyway)
If you plan on using an EOSS flavor release; Iāll suggest people read Thomas Wardās recent post on the issue too, so at least youāre fully aware of what will get fixes & what may not. Heās far more knowledgeable in security than I am.
Ubuntu MATE is still an official flavor of Ubuntu; itās not been removed from any page (eg. Ubuntu flavors | Ubuntu) NOR are there plans to do so [that Iām aware of anyway], even if the lack of a Ubuntu MATE development team in the resolute cycle meant they didnāt have a 26.04 release. Myself Iām still hopeful of a Ubuntu MATE stonking or 26.10 release.
If I wanted to use Ubuntu 26.04 LTS and the MATE desktop; Iād have no issues with that at all; but the lack of official ISO release doesnāt actually worry me, as I got very used to installing Ubuntu Desktop ISOs for many years, as I could download those at home [bandwidth] quota free, switch to a quota free mirror, then do the package changes to make the flavor install I actually wanted; as I had bandwidth restrictions for many years at home. Whilst Iāve not had bandwidth quotas for a few years now, these days Iād possibly use a flavor ISO that uses the calamares installer anyway; so I donāt have a forced / format as is required with ubuntu-desktop-installer, as I do like my non-destructive re-installs (even if theyāre not as useful as they were in Ubuntu).
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS is NOT Wayland only; Wayland was dropped from main and moved to universe, so itās as official as as anything else found in the universe repository; which is a LOT of the software I rely on.
Iām using Ubuntu 26.04 LTS right now, and am on my primary PC right now; Iāve used this box every day since release of Ubuntu 26.04; but would have used Wayland for less than 2 hours on this PC in that time; as Iāve been logged into a number of other Xorg/X11 sessions (today is the second day only using LXQt from the Lubuntu team on this box actually since stable release of 26.04; but many DEs still have Xorg/X11 support) and I do like my multi-desktop installs.
@guiverc thanks for posting Thomas Wardās blog article. That really explains everything in a way even my simple brain can understand!
From that article:
You will still get Ubuntu Kernel upgrades, security patches for OpenSSL, Python, the C libraries, any other critical core packages that are installed, etc. That happens independently from the Flavorās individual 3-year support periods.
The above is the most important thing I took from that article.
I kind of feel like Iāve jumped the script. I had three MATE 25.10 boxes offer to update to 26.04 LTS upon booting. I didnāt even run the update or upgrade. I thought - āI thought there wasnāt going to be a 26.04 LTS? - might as well see if it works - been preparing for EOL anyway.ā Two of the three went fine, and one crashed during the upgrade and seems to have found some Frankenstein combo that works for now. 
I left some at 24.04.4 - which I think gives me about 10-11 months before I have to do something. Thanks Chris for the ISO link.
Eugene, you may have just shared the wisdom that made the decision for me. I will download to 24.04 LTS for UM for the reason, as you said, that MATE isnāt Wayland-ready.
Thank you.
Just an FYI, if you follow that link to any other flavor (eg. replace ubuntu-mate with ubuntu-unity, lubuntu, etc) youāll find stonking or what are the stonking (26.10 daily) ISOs.
The current stonking ISO is failing build (for Ubuntu MATE), just as resolute did (late alpha) which is why resolute is still there.
( When stonking (26.10) builds for Ubuntu MATE [currently failing] get fixed that resolute ISO will disappear - ubuntu-mate : Live filesystems : āUbuntu CD Image Teamā team ā¦ Someone (developer interested in helping) just asked about them on matrix; which is what caused me to find that link so I could respond (on matrix); that to me is a good sign in regards Ubuntu MATE; and Iām pasting link here tooā¦ also I wrongly had resolute in that URL when I first keyed it in, and noted that the resolute ISOs are still being attempted to build; ie. resolute is being built for [unreleased] 26.04.1, so Ubuntu MATEās ISO builds werenāt disabled; just failing to build due to unfixed issues from early Marchā¦ Maybe of little interest to most; but Ubuntu MATE users maybe interested )
Chris, Just curious how I am being offered upgrading to 26.04 LTS? The one machine that it didnāt work well - did it again last night. I booted up and was offered the upgrade (I do have pro on all these boxes). I clicked to do so, and nothing happened. So, I went to the command line, and it complained about a pulse audio file. So I sudo apt installed that file, and it removed the one it didnāt like and installed the one it couldnāt get past. Then I did the command line again and it found some python3, projectm-data, and yad - three in total (photo) - so I said do it anyway - and iāll fix them after the fact. Went fine and finished the upgrade. One difference I notice is auto logon is gone on all the 26.04 LTS boxes. I get a suspiciously reddish-orange initial blank page to login (Original Ubuntu?) Once logged in it looks just like my MATE desktop. The line I used was from over ten years ago " sudo do-release-upgrade -d which mentioned there was no developer version, but offered to continue. My question is: did I āstonkā these upgrades? The two that worked without complaint ended up in the same no auto login condition, but run great.
Nahhh, you didnāt stonk anything. Those foreign packages mean a few things were installed from PPAs or outside the official archive, and the upgrader canāt guarantee 26.04 versions exist yet, so it warns you and lets you decide.
So saying yes is fine as long as youāre okay reinstalling or cleaning those up after, which you already seem to have done with pulseaudio.
The auto login going away is normal also.
One thing though, do-release-upgrade -d on LTS Ubuntu. The -d forces development/devel branch upgrades. You donāt want that on a stable box. Just plain sudo do-release-upgrade once itās offered is the safe way going forward.
Upgrades from 25.10 to 26.04 are open; as indicated in https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/meta-release by the āSupported: 1ā.
Upgrades from the prior LTS; ie. 24.04 to 26.04 are NOT open, as indicated in https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/meta-release-lts as seen by the āSupported: 0ā
Upgrades are OPEN or NOT OPEN based on what youāre using now, and thus the metafile which is used (if -d is used the development metafile is used etc).
Your mention of PRO makes me think itās LTS [youāre asking about], but you didnāt specify as far as I saw. Your settings also influence which file is looked at; ie. if itās LTS only the LTS metafile will be used (Supported:0) but if its every release the standard file is viewedā¦ What I describe is assuming defaults are used, but as its our own systems, we can change those defaults anytime if we have sudo rights.
Pulse Audio was used last for audio in 22.04 with Ubuntu; 22.10 switched to PipeWire - though PulseAudio user-layer controls ARE STILL USED, thus if the package/file was a system file it is unusual & likely a result of changes youāve made; however if it was a user-level control tool it wonāt be an issue; but again Iād suspect it was a change youād made away from defaults - but without file/package name Iām only guessing & could be way off.
The -d option is for DEVELOPMENT usage; ie. there so Quality Assurance testers can QA test the upgrade process, report any bugs, and its this that causes the Ubuntu Release Team to make decisions as to stability; they are the ones who amend the metafiles that impact what our systems see (in regards available release-upgrades).
If you used the -d you mention; youāre NOT using the supported upgrade path, but forcing different files that are available for Quality Assurance testers so they can FORCE an upgrade early for testing. Results in this development stage do vary, as itās there only for testing/development work & fixing issues before the upgrade is open for regular users. Youāll find much older documentation mentions it, as many didnāt want to wait (for LTS.1); but donāt forget to read the warnings that were provided with its use.
As for stonk, the upgrade path to stonking is OPEN as reflected in https://changelogs.ubuntu.com/meta-release-development with the āSupported: 0ā expected there given itās the development release & will remain UNSTABLE until it is deemed ready for RC (Release Candidate) which is scheduled for October.
Thanks Chris and Hayden. I learn a bit from all your helpful replies. So, lets say I want to turn off the development switch. Would just running from the terminal sudo do-release-upgrade do it? Or, is there a more specific command line?
Thanks
Jim
The -d is the development āswitchā as you put it, so YES leaving it off will mean youāre wanting to use only the supported upgrade paths.
A man do-release-upgrade to view the reference manual page on my release describes the option as
-d, --devel-release
If using the latest supported release, upgrade to the development release
and it was an option I was required to use to upgrade from resolute (26.04) to the stonking (what will be 26.10 on release) Iām now using (on this install anyway).
Addendum on a different, but still a Ubuntu matter.
I received an IRC message in a team room a little earlier telling me that the Ubuntu Discourse issues should now all be resolved.
As most are probably aware; the DDoS attacks from weeks ago returned, appearing to be timed for the Ubuntu Summit (last week) & continued over the weekend and into this week too. Some remediation steps taken werenāt as helpful as expected either (making it better for many, but just different problems for others). This now should all be historical now anyway.
( I recall UD discussed on this site here, but the thread I found was already marked SOLVED so adding a comment on this thread/post )