Ceci est une ancienne révision du document !
Xubuntu 24.04 LTS is the latest long-term support release of this Ubuntu flavor that uses the Xfce desktop. Xubuntu has been around since 2006 and this is the 37th release of this popular operating system.
As an LTS release, it has three years of support, until April 2027.
The three interim releases that made up the development cycle since the last LTS each brought only some small changes, and this final LTS version is no different in that regard. There are lots of small changes, but not many that most desktop users will notice.
Installation
I downloaded a copy of the Xubuntu 24.04 LTS ISO file from the official source using BitTorrent and carried out a command line SHA256 sum check to make sure it was uncorrupted.
When downloading Xubuntu, you have a choice of two ISO files, xubuntu-24.04-desktop-amd64.iso which provides the standard desktop and xubuntu-24.04-minimal-amd64.iso which is the “Xubuntu Minimal” installation leaving out most of the desktop applications. I downloaded the full desktop version. Xubuntu Minimal still includes snapd and snap packages.
I tested out Xubuntu 24.04 LTS in a series of live sessions using Ventoy 1.0.97 on a USB stick. Xubuntu is officially supported by Ventoy and it boots up and runs without any issues.
After booting up Xubuntu 24.04 LTS, I did discover one brand new annoyance in this release: the developers have disabled access to all drives, including USB devices. This makes it useless as a rescue disk and also complicates making screenshots for reviews. I normally take screenshots and then transfer them to a USB drive to get them off the live session. With no USB devices allowed, my workaround was to use Firefox to upload them to a cloud file service as a .zip file. Note to developers: if you want reviews of your releases, then please don’t make it hard to do screenshots. Is there any reason to disable access to all drives in live sessions? I can’t think of any and the official release notes did not mention this new “feature”.
System requirements
The recommended system requirements for Xubuntu 24.04 LTS have not changed since 21.04 and remain: 1.5 GHz dual-core processor 2 GB RAM 20 GB of hard-drive space
Just Firefox by itself will use two GB of RAM with just a few tabs open, so 8 GB of RAM is probably a more realistic minimum for decent performance these days. More RAM is always a good idea.
New
Like Xubuntu 23.10, 24.04 LTS uses the GTK-based Xfce 4.18 desktop, with some of its components now taken from GNOME 4.6 and MATE 1.26.
The included Linux kernel is version 6.8 and the initialization system is systemd 255.4.
Among some of the small improvements, the Xfce Power Manager and Screensaver have been updated to eliminate some identified screensaver issues. Many Xfce libraries, including garcon, libxfce4ui, tumbler and xfconf, have had bug fixes to correct race conditions and memory leaks, which should add up to a Xubuntu desktop that is more responsive and also has improved stability.
Xubuntu now has a new installer, the Flutter-based Ubuntu Installer, which replaces the older Ubiquity installer.
It is worth noting that Xubuntu does not yet have an OEM installation capability although it is under development and expected to be added to the ISO as a feature of point release 24.04.1. OEM installers allow setting up the operating system for shipping a new or used computer to an end user who can then create their own user sign-in and password.
Package management has changed in this Xubuntu release with a combination of the new Ubuntu App Center to handle snap packages plus Gdebi for installing random .deb files, replacing the previous Gnome Software package manager. Synaptic is still included to install repository .deb files. This does seem like a complex plan for new users. More experienced users may just opt to take the easy way out and do all their package management from the command line, using a combination of APT and snap commands.
This release also adds the Ubuntu Firmware Updater as a separate utility, like Ubuntu does.
Settings
As with all Xubuntu versions for a long time, this release uses Greybird as its default window color scheme, although it has been bumped up to version 3.23.3. It does look better in recent years.
The settings now have more complete support for dark themes and will synchronize dark theme settings in those applications that support dark themes.
There are still six window themes provided in the “Appearance” manager: Adwaita, Adwaita-dark, Greybird, Greybird-dark, High Contrast, and Numix. The separate Window Manager also has 11 window themes: Daloa, Default-hdpi, Default-xhdpi, Greybird, Greybird-accessibility, Greybird-compact, Greybird-dark, Greybird-dark-accessibility, Kokodi, Moheli, and Numix. Some of the themes with the same names in two different places are the same themes, while others are quite different, so if you want something other than the default Greybird, you might want to try both places for alternatives.
There are now 11 icon themes, three more than the previous release, with Elementary Xfce Darker still the default.
The default Xubuntu 23.10 wallpaper is a new design by Pasi Lallinaho, who has done all the release wallpapers since Xubuntu 9.04. It is very modernist, abstract design, and unusual for Xubuntu in that it is green and has teeth! If you don’t like that one, there are also 12 other wallpapers provided, plus all the old release wallpapers are now available in repository packages for installation as well, in case there is an old favorite you miss. Even though this release is code named “Noble Numbat”, Xubuntu skipped that enticement and there are no numbat-themed wallpapers.
Just like all the past Xubuntu releases made in the last ten years since 14.04 LTS, this one employs the Whisker Menu as its menu system. Until now, Whisker was the main feature that made Xubuntu distinctive from the other Ubuntu flavors but, for some unexplained reason, in this release the Whisker Menu can no longer be resized. With this ability now gone, Whisker is now just like any other Linux menu.
Applications
Some of the applications included with Xubuntu 24.04 LTS are: Atril 1.26.2 PDF viewer Blueman 2.3.5 bluetooth connector CUPS 2.4.7 printing system Catfish 4.16.4 desktop search* Document Scanner 46.0 (simple-scan) scanning utility Engrampa 1.26.2 file archiver Firefox 125.0.2 web browser Firmware Updater 0+git.5007558 firmware updater Gdebi 0.9.5.7 application installer GIMP 2.10.36 graphics editor GNOME Disk Utility 46.0 disk space and health monitor GNOME Disk Usage Analyzer 46.0 (baobab) disk display Gparted 1.5.0 partition editor Hexchat 2.16.2 IRC client LibreOffice 24.2.2 office suite MATE Calculator 1.26.0 calculator* Mousepad 0.6.1 text editor* Parole 4.18.1 media player Pipewire 1.0.4 audio controller Ristretto 0.13.1 image viewer* Rhythmbox 3.4.7 music player* Software Updater 24.04.6 (update-manager) software update manager Synaptic 0.91.3 package management system* Thunar 4.18.8 file manager Thunderbird 115.10.1 email client Transmission 4.0.5 BitTorrent client Ubuntu App Center 1.0.0 package management system Wget 1.21.4 command line webpage downloader Xfburn 0.7.0 CD/DVD burner* Xfce4 Panel 4.18.4 desktop panel* Xfce4 Power Manager 4.18.3 system power manager Xfce4 Screenshooter 1.10.5 screenshot tool Xfce4 Terminal 1.1.3 terminal emulator
* indicates same application version as used in Xubuntu 23.10 ** supplied as a snap, so version depends on the upstream package manager
Xubuntu continues to supply a very complete suite of default applications, with almost everything a desktop user might want, including the GIMP image editor. If you find that you end up removing many of them to reduce clutter, and then adding other applications instead, then perhaps using Xubuntu Minimal as a starting point would make for less work.
Many of the included applications are new versions with minor updates.
Mozilla’s Thunderbird remains the default email client, but has been switched from a .deb to a snap package, which will aid Mozilla keeping it up-to-date.
Xubuntu 24.04 LTS includes LibreOffice 24.2.2, which, as usual right across the Ubuntu world, is lacking only LibreOffice Base, the database application which is probably the least-used LibreOffice component.
Xfburn is still included in Xubuntu, making it one of the few Ubuntu flavors to still have a default CD/DVD burning application. Most other flavors dropped these a while back, as it has been many years since new computers have been delivered with CD/DVD drives. It will be interesting to see at which point Xubuntu decides to follow suit and leave it out of its default installation.
Conclusions
Xubuntu 24.04 LTS will probably keep most fans happy for the next few years. It will be interesting to see how many will miss the Whisker Menu resizing feature, though.
External links
Official website: https://xubuntu.org/