**The latest Kubuntu release came out, along with all the other Ubuntu flavors, on 25 April, 2024. Kubuntu 24.04 LTS is a long term support (LTS) release, which means it comes with three years of support, running until April, 2027. Kubuntu has been around for 19 years now, since 2005, and was the first official Ubuntu flavor. Kubuntu 24.04 LTS is the 39th overall release and the 18th with the Qt toolkit-based Plasma 5 desktop. It may also turn out to be the last one with Plasma 5 as Plasma 6 is set to be introduced into Kubuntu shortly. This development cycle, consisting of three interim releases leading to this LTS release, has been quiet, with only a few small changes introduced. Overall, I think it is a good thing, as Kubuntu has a dedicated fan base who like the way it looks and works and most don’t see a need for big changes. A few small refinements is exactly what they will see in the Kubuntu 24.04 LTS release.** **Installation I downloaded the Kubuntu 24.04 LTS ISO file from the official sources using the Transmission BitTorrent client. I ran a command line SHA256 sum check on it to make sure the download was correct and it passed. This download was 4.1 GB, up slightly from the 3.9 GB file size of the last release, Kubuntu 23.10. I tested Kubuntu 24.04 LTS from a USB stick equipped with Ventoy 1.0.97 over a series of live sessions. Unlike the last Kubuntu release where the screen would lock after 15 minutes of inactivity and demand a password that no one seemed to know, Kubuntu 24.04 LTS has no such issue and has returned to more user-friendly, no password required live sessions once again. It also does not prevent mounting drives in the live session unlike Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS and Xubuntu 24.04 LTS.** **System requirements The recommended minimum system requirements for Kubuntu 24.04 LTS are the same as for Ubuntu and have not changed for this release: 2 GHz dual core processor 4 GB RAM 25 GB of hard-drive, USB stick, memory card or external drive space Screen capable of 1024 x 768 pixel screen resolution Either a CD/DVD drive or a USB port for the installation media Internet access is useful but not essential It is probably worth noting that the recommended 4 GB of RAM is likely less than ideal for web browsing and 8 GB is probably more realistic.** **New The last Kubuntu release, 23.10, did not get a new default wallpaper which was unusual as most releases get a new one. Kubuntu 24.04 LTS returns to the tradition of a new default wallpaper, in this case it is called “Kubuntu Light” and is by Fabio Maricato and Micheal Mikowski. This time there are 44 wallpapers provided, many of them from past Kubuntu releases, so if you have an old favorite it may well be here. Given that the code name for the 24.04 LTS Ubuntu family of releases is "Noble Numbat", it is worth pointing out that there are no Numbat-themed wallpapers. Kubuntu 24.04 LTS uses the Qt 5.15.13 toolkit, KDE Frameworks 5.115.0, has applications from the KDE Gear 23.08.5 collection and uses the KDE Plasma 5.27.11 desktop. Like all the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS family of releases, Kubuntu comes with Linux kernel 6.8 and has systemd 255.4 as its initialization system. This release also switches to using the Calamares installer, also used by Lubuntu, instead of moving to Ubuntu's new Flutter-based installer. Both of these installers work quite well and are easy to use.** **As noted, the Plasma 5.27 series is likely to be the last of the Plasma 5 desktops, as Plasma 6 was already out in February 2024. It was not clear initially whether Plasma 6 would make it into this release or not. Given that this is an LTS release, the conservative decision was of course to use Plasma 5.27.11 rather than take a chance on a new desktop and so Plasma 6 will have to wait until at least the release of Kubuntu 24.10 in October 2024. Kubuntu still has the Wayland display server on test and so this release continues to use the venerable X.org display server instead. The release notes do say, "a Plasma Wayland session is available for testing by installing the plasma-workspace-wayland package, but is not supported. A Wayland session can then be started by selecting it at the login screen."** **Settings One of Kubuntu’s enduring appeals has always been that it is highly customizable, giving its users a wide choice of how they want it to look. Kubuntu 24.04 LTS has even more choices than earlier releases, as it offers five global themes, four application styles, six Plasma styles, six window colors, three window decoration styles, eight icon sets, 14 cursor styles, two splash screens and ten boot splash screens. And it is worth pointing out that those are just the installed options, as most of the settings pages have one-button downloads to add many more. One suggestion I do have for Kubuntu users is that if you find a combination of themes and colors that you like, you had better write it all down for any future installation you have to do, as otherwise you will never duplicate it! Kubuntu 24.04 LTS also has 68 pre-installed desktop widgets, the same number as in the last few releases. These widgets are small applications that can be added to the desktop, for things such as clocks and weather reports. Hundreds more of them can be downloaded, too, with the main constraint being the user's tolerance for clutter.** **Applications Some of the applications included with Kubuntu 24.04 LTS are: Ark 23.08.5 archive manager Discover 2.1.2 software store* Dolphin 23.08.5 file manager Elisa 23.08.5 music player Firefox 125.0.2 web browser** Gwenview 23.08.5 image viewer Haruna 0.12.3 video player Kate 23.08.5 text editor Kcalc 23.08.5 calculator KDE Partition Manager 23.08.5 partition editor Konsole 23.08.5 terminal emulator Kmahjongg 23.08.5 game Kmines 23.08.5 game Konversation 23.08.5 IRC client Kpatience 23.08.5 game Ksudoku 23.08.5 game LibreOffice 24.2.2 office suite, less only LibreOffice Base database NeoChat 23.08.5 Matrix client Okular 23.08.5 PDF viewer PipeWire 1.0.5 audio controller Plasma System Monitor 5.27.11 system monitor Skanlite 23.08.5 scanning utility SkanPage 23.08.5 multi-page scanning utility Spectacle 23.08.5 screenshot tool Startup Disk Creator 0.3.17 (usb-creator-kde) USB ISO writer* Thunderbird 115.10.1 email client** Vim 9.1.16 console text editor * indicates same application version as used in Kubuntu 23.10 ** supplied as a Snap, so version depends on the upstream package manager** **As usual, the lack of asterisks shows that almost all of the applications included are updated versions taken from KDE Gear 23.08.5. Not mentioned in the release notes are a few additions and deletions to the list of default applications provided. The Muon package manager and the Ktorrent BitTorrent client have been removed. The lack of Muon leaves the Discover software store to handle package management, but the removal of Ktorrent leaves no default BitTorrent client installed although there are several available for installation in the repositories including Ktorrent itself. Also unannounced were the addition of the NeoChat Matrix chat client and SkanPage, a multi-page scanning utility. The latter is really to make up for shortcomings in the provided Skanlite scanning utility. The GTK toolkit-based Document Scanner (Simple Scan) optical scanner actually works better, though. LibreOffice 24.2.2 is once again supplied complete, lacking only LibreOffice Base, the office suite's database application. Base is probably the least used component of the suite but it can be added from the repositories, if required.** **The Thunderbird email client is still included but is now a Snap package rather than a .deb. This should aid Mozilla in keeping it up to date and provide users with newer versions more quickly. As in past releases, Kubuntu 24.04 LTS does not include a webcam application, an image editor or video editor by default although there are many options for these in the repositories, if desired. Conclusions With 19 years of Kubuntu releases behind them, predictably the Kubuntu developers have put out 24.04 LTS, a highly polished and refined long term support release, with no obvious flaws. The lack of any serious changes means that users can upgrade for another three years of support and not have to deal with much of a learning curve and that should keep Kubuntu fans happy! External links Official website: https://kubuntu.org/**