Today is April 20, 2023, a date that almost any Ubunlog reader should have marked on the calendar. Today is the day a new version of the operating system that gives its name to this blog had to reach the coast, and that moment has already happened. It is now available Ubuntu 23.04, and, like the rest of the family, will bear the code name of Lunar Lobster, or lunar lobster for those who prefer it translated into Spanish.
Although at one point there were doubts, it has already been confirmed that he uses Linux 6.2, the latest stable version of the kernel, with the permission of 6.3 that will arrive, at least, this Sunday the 23rd. Lunar Lobster is a normal cycle release, that is, it is supported for nine months, and without a doubt it is worth updating to those who are right now on 22.10. A few visual tweaks here, performance improvements there, and what we have is something more mature.
Highlights of Ubuntu 23.04
- Supported for 9 months, until January 2024.
- GNOME 44.
- New quick settings that, among other things, make it easier to connect to Bluetooth devices.
- Many improvements in the Settings application, among which I would highlight the images in the mouse and touch panel section.
- If the gnome-shell-extension-ubuntu-tiling-assistant extension is installed from the official repositories, two settings appear to manage it. Rumors are circulating that Canonical will add the extension by default in a future release.
- Notification counter on the dock.
- Many improvements in Files (Nautilus).
- Other novelties related to the graphical environment and GNOME apps.
- Linux 6.2.
- New Flutter based installer. As a curiosity, this does allow you to use the name "ubuntu" for the team.
- Mini-iso. It has a weight of about 150mb, and allows you to install Ubuntu using the Internet. It's very different than downloading the normal ISO and using the "minimum install", starting with what it starts with.
- Opening Firefox as Snap, the one that has been by default for a long time, is now faster.
- Up-to-date applications, such as the latest version of Thunderbird or LibreOffice 7.5.x, Shotwell 0.30.17, Remmina 1.4.29, and Transmission 3.0.
- Telegram is now available only as a snap package.
- Improvements in support for flatpak applications. It is not something that Canonical will announce with great fanfare, but there it is.
- General improvements, which is noticeable in both design and performance. Taking into account that this novelty has been repeated a lot since, I think, GNOME 41, it is logical to think that it also has to do with the graphical environment.
- Updated graphic drivers.
- Python 3.11 (I haven't noticed any problems with Kodi, for those who have doubts).
- GCC 13.
- GlibC 2.37.
- Ruby 3.1.
- golang 1.2.
- LLVM 16.
Update now?
Undoubtedly, when you are in a normal development version, as would be the case with 22.10, upgrading to Ubuntu 23.04 is a must or a need. Otherwise, in summer it will stop receiving support. If it wasn't for that, I'd also say it's worth upgrading. GNOME 44, the new kernel and the tweaks introduced make the user experience much better.
Now, the speech is different for those who are on Jammy Jellyfish, the latest LTS version of Ubuntu. Whoever uses the longest supported versions is because they prioritize stability over novelty, and I would dare to say that it's never worth upgrading from LTS to non-LTS, with the exception of if he has been upgraded to Long Term Support just because he had to.
For those who want to update to Ubuntu 23.04, you can follow our tutorial in which we teach how to update ubuntu from terminal. The update will not appear from the start for users of an LTS version, since they are configured by default to only search for updates from other LTS versions. Although I would not recommend it, if you want to upload from Jammy Jellyfish (22.04) or an earlier one like Focal Fossa (20.04), you first have to go to Software and Updates/Updates and in "Notify me of a new version of Ubuntu" choose "for any new version”.
Now that we have it here, let's enjoy the lunar lobster.