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Kubuntu 25.10 is the 42nd Kubuntu release and the third one with the Qt toolkit-based Plasma 6 desktop. It came out with all the other Ubuntu flavors on 9 October, 2025. This is the final of the three interim releases which make up this development cycle which will lead to the next LTS version, Kubuntu 26.04 LTS, due out on 23 April, 2026. Because it is an interim release, Kubuntu 25.10 will have nine months of support, running until July 2026. As the last interim release in this cycle, it also gives us a final window into what we can expect in that upcoming LTS. Installation I downloaded the Kubuntu 25.10 ISO file via BitTorrent from the official source and did a command line SHA256 sum check on it to confirm that the file integrity was good. I always recommended this step to make sure you have an accurate download. This Kubuntu ISO file turned out to be 4.9 GB in size which is 200 MB bigger than the last release. I dropped the ISO file onto a USB stick equipped with Ventoy 1.1.07 and it booted up without any problems, as expected, given that Kubuntu is listed as officially supported by Ventoy.
System requirements The recommended minimum system requirements for Kubuntu 25.10 are the same as for Ubuntu. They have not changed for this release and remain: 2 GHz dual-core processor 4096 MiB RAM (system memory) for physical installs 2048 MiB RAM for virtualised installs 25 GB (8.6 GB for minimal) of hard-drive space (or USB stick, memory card or external drive but see LiveCD for an alternative approach) 3D acceleration-capable GPU with at least 256 MB of VRAM 1024×768 or higher resolution display USB flash drive or DVD drive or for the installer media Internet access is helpful That recommended 4 GB of RAM is probably a bit light if you plan on doing much web browsing, 8 GB or greater is more realistic.
New The Kubuntu development team says “this release emphasizes Wayland adoption, modern security, and seamless integration with the open source world.” Kubuntu 25.10 brings a lot of small and incremental changes, most of which will be invisible to desktop users. It uses the Qt 6.9 toolkit, KDE Frameworks 6.17.0, has refreshed applications from KDE Gear 25.08 and features the KDE Plasma 6.4 desktop. It also comes with Linux kernel 6.17 for newer hardware support and uses systemd 257.9 for its initialization system. All of these are upgrades from the last release, Kubuntu 25.04. This version is the third one using a Wayland display server session as the default. What is different is that in Kubuntu 23.10 the old X11 server is no longer installed as a boot option, although plasma-session-x11 can be installed if needed. I think most users will like how Kubuntu performs with Wayland and are not going to miss X11. Wayland not only means a more smooth and responsive display but those odd X11 screen flickers are a thing of the past. Like Ubuntu 25.10, Kubuntu also introduces sudo-rs, a new Rust-based sudo system. This has some behind-the-scenes advantages, like improved memory safety and reduced vulnerabilities. Most users will not notice the difference in daily use, though.
Settings Kubuntu has always given its users a really wide range of customization choices and Kubuntu 25.10 with the Plasma 6 desktop maintains this philosophy. It offers: • Five global themes (Breeze, Breeze Dark, Breeze Twilight, Kubuntu & Oxygen) • Four application styles (Breeze, Fusion, MS Windows 9X & Oxygen) • Five Plasma styles (Breeze, Breeze Dark, Breeze Light, Kubuntu Focus & Oxygen) • Five window color schemes (Breeze Classic, Breeze Dark, Breeze Light, Oxygen & Oxygen Cold) • Three window decoration styles (Breeze, Oxygen & Plastik) • Two icon sets (Breeze & Breeze Dark) • Eight cursor styles (Breeze Dark, Breeze Light, KDE Classic, Oxygen Black, Oxygen Blue, Oxygen White, Oxygen Yellow & Oxygen Zion) • Three system soundscapes (Ocean, Oxygen & FreeDesktop) • Three splash screens(Breeze, Oxygen & None) • Two login screens (Breeze & Kubuntu) • Ten boot splash screens (BGRT, Breeze, Breeze (Text Mode), Details, Kubuntu Logo, Kubuntu Text, Spinner, Text, Tribar & Ubuntu Text) • 47 wallpapers As always, these are just the options which are installed with most of the settings pages have one-button downloads to get lots more.
Like the last release, Kubuntu 25.10 has 68 preinstalled widgets. These widgets are small applications that can be added to the panel and display on the desktop, including things like clocks and weather reports. Hundreds more of them can be downloaded for installation, limited only by your tolerance for panel icon clutter. On the Plasma 6 desktop, the widget installation options are hidden away in the panel's right-click menu and not where you might expect them to be, in settings, so they are easy to miss. Widgets in Plasma 6 are also displayed differently from Plasma 5. On the former desktop most of them appeared as boxes on the desktop itself whereas now they appear as panel icons until clicked to open, making them less intrusive at least. As has been the case with most Kubuntu releases, this one comes with a new default wallpaper, “Coast” by Krystian Zajdel. Zajdel has designed Kubuntu's wallpapers for a long time now and always comes up with something distinctive for each release. Coast comes in light and dark versions and changes from one to the other depending on the theme selected. There are 47 wallpapers provided, the same number as in the last release, many being favorites from past Kubuntu releases. As usual with Kubuntu, the developers have ignored the code name for this family of Ubuntu releases, “Questing Quokka”, and there are no marsupial-themed wallpapers.
Applications Some of the applications included with Kubuntu 25.10 are: Ark 25.08.1 archive manager CUPS 2.4.12 printing system* Discover 2.1.2 software store* Dolphin 25.08.1 file manager Elisa 25.08.1 music player Firefox 143.0.4 web browser Gwenview 25.08.1 image viewer Haruna 1.4.0 video player Kate 25.08.1 text editor Kcalc 25.08.1 calculator KDE Connect 25.08.1 smartphone connection KDE Partition Manager 25.08.1 partition editor Kmahjongg 25.08.1 game Kmines 25.08.1 game Konsole 25.08.1 terminal emulator Kpatience 25.08.1 game Ksudoku 25.08.1 game LibreOffice 25.8.1 office suite, less only LibreOffice Base database NeoChat 25.08.1 Matrix client Okular 25.08.1 PDF viewer PipeWire 1.4.7 audio controller Plasma System Monitor 6.4.5 system monitor Skanlite 25.08.1 scanning utility SkanPage 25.08.1 multi-page scanning utility Spectacle 6.4.5 screenshot tool Startup Disk Creator 0.4.1 (usb-creator-kde) USB ISO writer* Systemd 257.9 init system Thunderbird 140.3.0 ESRr email client Vim 9.1.0967 console text editor* * indicates same application version as used in Kubuntu 25.04 supplied as a Snap, so version depends on the upstream package manager Most of the KDE applications provided have been updated to their KDE Gear 25.08.1 versions, but there is no change to the actual mix of default applications provided.
This list of applications is quite complete and will let most desktop users get right to work after installation.
LibreOffice 25.8.1 is only missing LibreOffice Base, the office suite's database application, which is omitted because few people use it these days. it is in the repositories for installation, if needed.
The included Dolphin 25.08.1 file manager is even more refined and slick than past iterations. It lacks the clean, simple look of the GNOME desktop's GNOME Files (nautilus) 49.0 file manager, but it does feel less technical and more user-friendly than past versions, including how it shows file transfers in progress. Conclusions
Kubuntu 25.10 builds on the two earlier releases in the cycle, 24.10 and 25.04, with incremental upgrades to the software. As the final interim release of three in this development cycle, this probably indicates that Kubuntu 26.04 LTS, due out on 23 April 2026, will bring some improvements over the previous LTS release, Kubuntu 24.04 LTS, but without much drama. The most notable changes in this whole development cycle so far are the Plasma 6 desktop replacing Plasma 5 and the introduction of a Wayland display server, both of which came in the first release of the cycle, which is the way it should be done. The two following releases, including this one, have allowed enough testing to bring confidence to include these in the LTS.
I think Kubuntu users will pleased with Kubuntu 25.10 and with the direction that this development cycle is taking the distribution. The progression over time is careful and well thought out.
External links
Official website: https://kubuntu.org/**