Ubuntu is the most popular Linux desktop distribution. The latest long-term support release is Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (codenamed Resolute Raccoon), featuring Linux 7.0 kernel + GNOME 50 + GCC 15.2, Wayland by default, and a recommended 6GB of RAM.
Official Download Page
Desktop ISO
| Image Type | File Name | Size |
|---|---|---|
| Full Desktop Image | ubuntu-26.04-desktop-amd64.iso |
~6 GB |
| Network Install Image (netinst) | ubuntu-26.04-live-server-amd64.iso |
~200 MB |
China users can directly access the Tencent Cloud mirror:
https://mirrors.cloud.tencent.com/ubuntu-releases/26.04/
Alibaba Cloud mirror:
https://mirrors.aliyun.com/ubuntu-releases/26.04/
Desktop Flavors
| Flavor | Download Page |
|---|---|
| Kubuntu (KDE) | cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/26.04/ |
| Lubuntu (LXQt) | cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/26.04/ |
| Xubuntu (Xfce) | cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/26.04/ |
| Ubuntu Budgie | cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/26.04/ |
| Ubuntu Studio | cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/26.04/ |
| Ubuntu Unity | cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-unity/releases/26.04/ |
What’s New in Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
- Linux 7.0 kernel — latest hardware support and performance improvements
- GNOME 50 — redesigned Settings app, improved performance
- GCC 15.2 — default system compiler
- Wayland by default — proprietary NVIDIA driver now supports Wayland out of the box
- Snap remains the default package format
- New installer — Flutter-based, supports ZFS and full-disk encryption
- 6GB RAM recommended — minimum is still 4GB
System Requirements
| Requirement | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| RAM | 4 GB | 6 GB+ |
| Storage | 25 GB | 50 GB+ |
| Display | 1024×768 | 1920×1080+ |
| CPU | 2 cores | 4 cores+ |
Verify ISO
Download the SHA256SUMS file and verify:
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS 2>&1 | grep -v "OK$"
Creating a Bootable USB
On Linux:
sudo dd if=ubuntu-26.04-desktop-amd64.iso of=/dev/sdX bs=4M status=progress
sync
On Windows, use Rufus or BalenaEtcher.
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