Review – Xubuntu 25.04
by Adam Hunt
My previous review of Xubuntu in Full Circle 212 was a look at Xubuntu Minimal, the separate ISO file for download that omits almost all the normally included applications. With the release of Xubuntu 25.04, I thought we would get back to the full Xubuntu Desktop edition. Xubuntu Minimal is still available for any users who would rather pick their own applications after installation.
This fresh Xubuntu release came out on 17 April, 2025 and is the middle of three interim releases that will take us to the next long term support (LTS) version, Xubuntu 26.04 LTS, due to arrive in April, 2026.
The three interim releases in between the LTS versions are where improvements and new ideas are usually tried out, but Xubuntu 25.04 does not bring a lot that is new. This is the 39th Xubuntu release and it comes with nine months of support, running until January, 2026.
Installation
I downloaded Xubuntu 25.04 from the official source using the Transmission BitTorrent client and then carried out an SHA256 sum check from the command line to ensure I had a good download.
I tested Xubuntu 25.04 using a USB stick equipped with a new version of Ventoy, 1.1.05, by just dropping the ISO file onto the stick. Ventoy officially supports Xubuntu and it booted up and ran fine.
System requirements
The recommended system requirements for Xubuntu 25.04 have not changed in the past four years since 21.04 and remain: 1.5 GHz dual core processor 2 GB RAM 20 GB of hard-drive space
For web browsing, 8 GB of RAM is probably a more realistic minimum these days and, of course, more RAM is always better.
New
Xubuntu 25.04 introduces the Xfce 4.20 desktop, for which the developers claim that they did “a gazillion of bug fixes and did various minor improvements”, although it does not bring any new features. It also includes one updated application from the latest GNOME desktop, 48.
The Linux kernel has been upgraded to version 6.14 and the initialization system is now systemd 257.4. It is worth noting that Xubuntu has been using systemd since its 15.04 release so this is the 21st release over the past ten years with no noted issues.
All the Ubuntu flavors have been moving towards replacing the X11 display server with Wayland. Ubuntu and Kubuntu are already there with default Wayland sessions. For Xubuntu, this release notes that with the Xfce 4.20 desktop that “early Wayland support has been added, but is not available in Xubuntu”. So it is close…but not quite there.
Not new, but still an annoyance in Xubuntu live sessions, is that once again in this release all drives are locked out and will not mount. This makes Xubuntu 25.04 pretty useless as a rescue disk and also makes doing screenshots for a review and getting them off the live session much more difficult. In my case, I normally just save them to a plugged in USB stick. For these screenshots, I had to sign into a cloud service, upload the screenshots and then download them to my laptop. I can't think of any good reason to lock USB devices and all other drives out of a live session and most of the other Ubuntu flavors don’t do it.
The lack of much new in this release, beyond just bug fixes, points towards the next LTS being not much different from the last one. This will actually make most Xubuntu fans happy, as most seem to think that there is nothing much that needs changing in their favorite distribution. In many ways that is the story with most of the Ubuntu flavors. They work well, are not currently adding much in the way of new features, the user base for each flavor likes the way they work and isn't looking for changes. It may sound boring but this is actually a sign of success. What history has shown us is what Linux users really revolt against is change-for-the-sake-of change, so it is good that developers are not doing that!
Settings
As it has done for many years, Xubuntu 25.04 uses Greybird as its default window color scheme. 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 12 window top title bar themes: Default (which, oddly, is not the default), Daloa, Default-hdpi, Default-xhdpi, Greybird, Greybird-accessibility, Greybird-compact, Greybird-dark, Greybird-dark-accessibility, Kokodi, Moheli and Numix. You can use these two settings selectors to mix and match the window look as desired.
There are now six icon themes, four fewer than in the last release, with Elementary Xfce the new default, replacing Elementary Xfce Dark.
The default Xubuntu 25.04 wallpaper for this release is once again designed by Pasi Lallinaho, who has done all the release wallpapers for the last 16 years, since Xubuntu 9.04. This one is an abstract night landscape. If you don’t fancy it, Xubuntu 25.04 comes with ten other additional wallpapers. You can easily download any of the previous Xubuntu ones from the Xubuntu GitHub wallpaper repository or use your own wallpaper. Even though this release is code named “Plucky Puffin” there are no puffin-themed wallpapers.
Just like all the Xubuntu releases since 14.04 LTS, this one employs the Whisker Menu as its menu system. In Xubuntu 23.10 and earlier, the Whisker Menu was able to be resized but in the last two releases, Xubuntu 24.04 LTS and 24.10, it was no longer re-sizable. That seems to have been a bug which has now been fixed since, once again, the menu may be resized in this release. This is a welcome feature fix in the Xfce 4.20 desktop.
Applications
Applications included with Xubuntu 25.04 are: Atril 1.26.2 PDF viewer* Blueman 2.4.4 bluetooth connector CUPS 2.4.12 printing system Catfish 4.20.0 desktop search Document Scanner 46.0 (simple-scan) scanning utility* Engrampa 1.26.2 file archiver* Firefox 137.0.2 web browser Firmware Updater 0+git.22198be firmware updater Gdebi 0.9.5.8 application installer GIMP 3.0.2 graphics editor GNOME Disk Utility 46.1 disk space and health monitor* GNOME Disk Usage Analyzer 48.0 (baobab) disk display Gparted 1.6.0 partition editor Hexchat 2.16.2 IRC client* LibreOffice 25.2.2.2 office suite (less LibreOffice Base database application) MATE Calculator 1.26.0 calculator* Mousepad 0.6.3 text editor* Parole 4.18.2 media player Pipewire 1.2.7 audio controller Ristretto 0.13.3 image viewer Rhythmbox 3.4.8 music player* Software Updater 25.04.4 (update-manager) software update manager Synaptic 0.91.5 package management system Systemd 257.4 init system Thunar 4.20.2 file manager Thunderbird 128.9.1 esr email client Transmission 4.0.6 BitTorrent client Ubuntu App Center 1.0.0 package management system Wget 1.24.5 command line webpage downloader Xfburn 0.7.2 CD/DVD burner Xfce4 Panel 4.20.3 desktop panel Xfce4 Power Manager 4.20.0 system power manager Xfce4 Screenshooter 1.11.1 screenshot tool Xfce4 Terminal 1.1.4 terminal emulator
* indicates same application version as in Xubuntu 24.10
The supplied default mix of applications has not changed in this release, although most of them have newly updated versions.
As can be seen, the list of applications included in the full Xubuntu Desktop ISO is extensive, including pretty much everything a desktop user might need, except perhaps a webcam client and video editor. If you think that this list has a lot of stuff that you do not want, rather than remove it all after installation, you can always use the Xubuntu Minimal ISO instead. It really only comes with the file manager and then you can add just what you want. For experienced users, this may be a more efficient installation plan, particularly if you create a checklist to speed things up.
It is worth noting that Xubuntu is the only Ubuntu derivative, other than Ubuntu Cinnamon, that still comes with a CD/DVD burning application by default. Optical drives started disappearing on new laptops in about 2011, 14 years ago. Once included with all releases, since then most of the rest of the Ubuntu universe have dropped their optical drive burners from their default application list, although they are still in the Ubuntu repositories if you have a CD/DVD drive and any disks left to actually burn. It will be interesting to see if and when the Xubuntu Team makes that same move and drops Xfburn.
Conclusions
Xubuntu 25.04 is a good, solid release with very little new included aside from the bug fixes included with the Xfce 4.20 desktop and some refreshed applications. Overall, I think Xubuntu fans will like what they see here as there is no “learning curve” from recent releases and most Xubuntu users are not looking for big changes anyway.
The next version out will be Xubuntu 25.10, the third and final interim release of this cycle, due on 09 October 2025. That release will be the last chance to introduce anything new before the next LTS arrives and we’ll have a look at it in the autumn.
External links
Official website: https://xubuntu.org/ Wallpaper repository: https://github.com/Xubuntu/xubuntu-marketing/blob/master/wallpapers/README.md
Biography:
Adam Hunt started using Ubuntu in 2007. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, in a house with no Windows.