Kubuntu 25.10 will not include a Plasma X11 desktop session by default, joining the regular version of Ubuntu in focusing on a Wayland-first future.
The official Ubuntu flavour, which ships with the KDE Plasma desktop environment and associated technologies, will only provide a Wayland display session for new installs in Kubuntu 25.10, released on October 9 2025.
The decision isn’t that unexpected. It mirrors Ubuntu 25.10 going Wayland-only (though that’s because GNOME developers are in the process of removing code that lets GNOME Shell run on Xorg/X11).
KDE developers plan to phase out X11 support over time, but there’s no firm deadline by when (perhaps by the time KDE Plasma 7 rolls around).
With KWin, the KDE window manager’s, Wayland and X11 code split into separate packages for the KDE Plasma 6.4 release (to make development easier), Kubuntu’s Rik Mills was asked on the flavour’s display server protocol plans going forward.
He replied:
At the moment we intend to ship the wayland one by default on the ISO and installs while users who still want an X11 session will be free to install the X11 one
Rik Mills, Kubuntu developer
Of course, plans can change but it seems the intention seems practical: a switch has to happen at some point given, and using the release before the next LTS to test it will mean fewer headaches to come.
The good news is you can continue to use KDE Plasma with X11 on Kubuntu 25.10 (and Kubuntu 26.04 LTS when released next year), you just now have to install the X11 session yourself rather than finding there by default.
Why is Kubuntu 25.10 ‘Dropping’ X11?
Like GNOME, KDE’s developers see Wayland as the future. Adding new features, leveraging new hardware capabilities and improving the desktop’s security in Wayland can happen faster without the burden of having to deal with legacy Xorg code.
Kubuntu’s devs want to “rip off this sticking plaster” and focus on Wayland in 25.10
However, unlike GNOME 49 (which Ubuntu 25.10 will use), KDE Plasma 6.4 (the KDE version Kubuntu 25.10 is likely to use) still works in an X11 session.
And per its developers, there is no plan to break or remove compatibility with X in the near future.
So if KDE Plasma still supports X11, why is Kubuntu choosing to drop its X11 session from the default install?
Kubuntu’s Rik Mills further explains: “It is highly improbable that we can support the X11 session in 26.04 LTS, so Like Ubuntu desktop it is probably better to rip off this sticking plaster in 25.10 and concentrate on Wayland” (sic).
Ubuntu (the project as a whole) no longer includes Xorg packages in its desktop “seed” starting with 25.10 (the ‘seed’ is a list of required packages). It’s now up to official flavours to add it to their respective desktops seeds — if they want.
Clearly Kubuntu doesn’t. If it’s in the default seed, it has to be proactively supported. If it’s there in 26.04 LTS, that means 3 years of support – a lot of manpower to maintain an X11 session that, per KDE’s own stats, fewer people use.
The latest Ubuntu 25.10 daily build ISOs reflect the Wayland-only change and no longer pull in a Plasma X11 session.
X11 Support Still Available in 25.10
If you have a preference or need for X11 you still have choices.
You can install an X11 session in Kubuntu 25.10 easily: just run sudo apt install plasma-session-x11 to get it, then select the Xorg session from SSDM, the KDE login screen, and proceed to log in as normal.
Upgrading to Kubuntu 25.10 from 25.04 is likely be fine too, and the Xorg session packages will not be uninstalled on upgrade.
Anyone worried about loosing access to X11 needn’t panic.
A huge number of older apps and tools designed for X11 work under Wayland using XWayland, which is preinstalled/enabled out of the box. Admittedly, older hardware support in Wayland can vary, but even then: there are options.
Other Ubuntu flavours, including Xubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Unity, and Ubuntu Cinnamon, will likely continue to offer X11 support in their respective installers/default installs for this cycle.
One thing is clear: the momentum to beak with the past is gathering pace.
And the more aggressive that break, the sooner 3rd-party app makers will be motivated to adapt or adopt Wayland protocols and desktop portals. That is a good thing; Wayland provides better security and performance than the decades-old X11 system.