It’s here folks: the Ubuntu 20.04 beta release is now available to download – arriving a little later than billed!
Landing in advance of next month’s stable release, the Ubuntu 20.04 beta gives enthusiasts and testers the chance to get up close with the various changes on offer.
Such as?
Well, Ubuntu 20.04 beta ships the Linux 5.4 kernel; offers the majority of the recent GNOME 3.36 release, including its new lock screen; and adds a new ‘dark mode’ setting to the Appearance section.
There’s a faster desktop shell, a freshly Snap’d Ubuntu Software tool, a raft of Yaru theme changes, a new wallpaper, and (inversely) no more Amazon web app!
Look out for your computer’s vendor logo during boot; take advantage of the new do-not-disturb mode to silence pushy notifications; and benefit from the latest versions of core open source software like Mozilla Firefox, Thunderbird, and LibreOffice.
WireGuard support is also available in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS out-of-the-box, as is Livepatch for reboot-free kernel updates. Those of you interested in ZFS support may be interested to try out the automatic APT rollback feature.
All things considered, the Ubuntu 20.04 beta is pretty much feature complete at this point. No major changes or new features are likely to appear in the release between now and April 23, aka release day.
If you install the beta now you can upgrade to the final release later this month just by installing all updates between now and then.
Download Ubuntu 20.04 Beta
You can download Ubuntu 20.04 from the Ubuntu release server, linked to below.
You can upgrade to Ubuntu 20.04 from 19.10 or from 18.04 directly, no .iso download or fresh install required.