It’s here folks: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS is now available to download.
This is the second point release in the Ubuntu 20.04 LTS series. It rolls together all of the software updates, security patches, and bug fixes issued to the Focal Fossa to date. Plus, it intros a new hardware enablement stack (HWE) composed of a new kernel and updated Linux graphics drivers.
Wondering what the point of point releases is? They provide users with a freshly pressed ISO that bundles in all of the updates to Ubuntu since the last ISO was made. If you install Ubuntu 20.04 using this point release you won’t have to download and install a tonne of updates (which you would if used an older installer .iso, etc).
This is the first of two point releases planned for this year. Ubuntu 20.04.3 will roll out in the summer carrying with it the Linux kernel used in Ubuntu 21.04.
For more on this release, the HWE, and the download links you need to get it, read on.
Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
Linux 5.8 is the big lure of this point release, carried over from last October’s Ubuntu 20.10 release. Linux 5.8 introduces improved hardware support for AMD Renoir chips, a kernel concurrency sanitiser (not that kind) and more exFAT driver improvements.
Mesa 20.2.6, the last point release in the 20.2.x-series, is included, as is libdrm 2.4.102, and xserver 1.20.9.
Ubuntu now tracks HWE by default on supported hardware. This means regardless of when you installed Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (or what disc image you used) you get new kernel releases every six months until 2022 (which is when the fifth and final point release in the series is made).
As Ubuntu chooses the best kernel for your hardware during install. Only hardware compatible with the HWE will opt you in to use it. Some systems may (for hardware reasons) remain on Linux kernel 5.4. You can force install the HWE kernel, but you may experience issues as a result.
A swathe of other updates come bundled up in this ISO refresh too, including GNOME Shell 3.36.4, LibreOffice 6.4.5, Mozilla Firefox 84, and lots more. You can view a full(er) list of changes made between Ubuntu 20.04.1 and Ubuntu 20.04.2 on the Ubuntu wiki.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS is supported until April 2025.
Download Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS
Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS is available to download from the Ubuntu website:
If you already run Ubuntu 20.04 LTS you’re not missing out on anything; so long as you have installed all available updates you “have” Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS.