Ubuntu 26.10 released – here’s what’s new

Under the hood, the operating system ships with GNOME 51, Mesa 26.2, and the Linux 7.3 kernel, alongside a more capable App Center, expanded TPM-backed full-disk encryption, and brand-new desktop ISOs tailored for RISC-V hardware architectures. For users considering an upgrade or a fresh installation, the new release delivers a refined experience across virtually every corner of the desktop environment.

A Faster Way to Window Tiling

Window management receives a notable speed and efficiency boost in Ubuntu 26.10 through an innovative, mid-drag window snapping widget. When users begin moving a window across the desktop, a layout picker subtly peeks in from the top of the screen. Dragging the window upward toward this header reveals the complete layout picker interface. Hovering the window over a specific zone generates a real-time ghost preview illustrating precisely where the window will snap upon release.

While the feature is designed to accelerate multitasking, users seeking a traditional workflow can disable the automatic pop-up using a simple terminal command via GSettings, allowing for flexible customization depending on personal preference.

Seamless Hardware Verification and Document Signatures

Verifying whether a laptop or PC is officially recognized as Ubuntu Certified is now seamlessly integrated directly into the system settings. Navigating to the system panel under settings instantly surfaces certification status. These status checks leverage the Ubuntu Hardware API through the hwctl client, which has successfully transitioned into a snap package for this cycle. If a device matches a certified configuration, the interface confirms it immediately, whereas non-certified systems or close matches receive descriptive statuses paired with direct links to device listings on the official Ubuntu website.

Productivity also takes a step forward with enhancements to Document Viewer, commonly known as Papers. The application now supports adding handwritten signatures directly to PDF documents and saving them for future administrative tasks. Users can draw signatures using a mouse, stylus, graphics tablet, or touchscreen via a dedicated canvas, or alternatively import a photograph of a physical signature and allow the application to automatically strip away the background. These signatures function similarly to other document annotations, enabling straightforward repositioning and resizing across pages. Additional document viewer improvements include more descriptive paper size names within document properties and default printing for free-text annotations.

Enhanced Accessibility and System Navigation

Screenshot functionality has been overhauled to provide granular keyboard accessibility. After drawing out a capture area, users can press directional arrow keys to select individual sides of the selection, tapping repeatedly to expand or contract the boundary. Holding modifier keys allows for larger or more precise adjustments, while pressing the ‘R’ key instantly resets the selection to start over. Furthermore, GNOME has replaced the traditional camera shutter sound with a new audio cue for screenshots, eliminating awkward situations for users snapping screens in public environments.

File management within Nautilus sees subtle yet impactful refinements. The file manager now displays a continuous file count when users drag multiple files to a new destination. Backend optimizations ensure that files within large folders load significantly faster during refreshes. Additionally, at smaller window widths, a new tab overview button appears to streamline navigation between open tabs, proving particularly useful in tiled display configurations.

Meanwhile, the Desktop Icons extension, known as DING, has successfully migrated to GTK4. This modernization ensures that context menus and dialog boxes visually harmonize with the broader desktop environment. The right-click desktop menu now opens with virtually zero latency because clipboard checks are handled asynchronously rather than pausing the interface.

Advanced Authentication and App Center Improvements

Security and identity management receive a significant upgrade with the integration of FIDO2 passkeys and web-based sign-in protocols directly into the GDM login and lock screens. While smart card authentication was previously supported, the inclusion of passkeys heavily benefits corporate and managed environments while establishing a unified authentication framework for future sign-in methods.

The App Center expands its utility with a dedicated Add-ons section housing new pages for Additional Drivers and Media Support. The additional drivers page appears exclusively on hardware requiring proprietary intervention, such as NVIDIA graphics cards, while the media support page simplifies the installation of necessary audio and video codecs. The software center also introduces a unified details page for applications available in both Snap and Debian formats, clearly outlining download sizes, publishers, permissions, and version numbers to help users make informed choices.

Expanded Architecture Support and Under-the-Hood Modernization

Ubuntu 26.10 broadens its hardware footprint by introducing a separate amd64v3 installer image available through the official CD image server. Optimized for modern CPUs supporting the x86-64-v3 instruction set found in the vast majority of Intel and AMD processors manufactured after 2015, this image delivers measurable performance gains for number-crunching workloads and virtual machine management.

System settings have been substantially expanded across the board. The Mouse & Touchpad pane now includes a toggle to automatically disable the touchpad when an external mouse is connected, while the system About page organizes details into a streamlined single-page view. Displays settings feature auto-rotation controls for touchscreens and center-align snapping for multi-monitor arrangements. Concurrently, support for legacy WEP wireless security has been entirely removed from Wi-Fi configurations due to its inherent insecurity.

Under the hood, Ubuntu achieves a major milestone as its transition to Rust-based core utilities is officially complete, with standard commands like cp, mv, and rm now powered by uutils. Furthermore, dbus-broker has officially replaced dbus-daemon as the system message bus after 22 years of service, modernizing inter-process communication and enhancing overall system security.

Memory management under resource constraint scenarios has also been improved. When memory is exhausted, the operating system prioritizes terminating rogue applications before touching core session services, preventing frustrating crashes that previously dumped users back to the login screen.

Available immediately for download across the official Ubuntu website and release image servers, Ubuntu 26.10 provides an impressive array of targeted refinements that balance bleeding-edge software integration with daily reliability.