The last weekend Ubuntu 20.04 beta release released «Focal Fossa», which marked full freeze from the package database and proceeded to final testing and bug fixes. The version, which is classified as a long-term support version (LTS), whose updates are formed over 5 years and is scheduled to be released on April 23.
Among the main changes that are presented are the desktop updated to Gnome 3.36. The default theme for Yaru has been redesigned, in addition to the previously available dark modes, a completely light third version will appear.
As well a new layout is proposed for the system menu and the application menu. New directory icons have been added that are optimized for display on a light and dark background.
In addition, Gnome Shell performance optimization highlights and the window manager.
Processor load was reduced and lags reduced during animation rendering when manipulating windows, moving the mouse, and opening overview mode.
Added support for 10-bit color depth and Fractional scale support is implemented in X11, which was previously only available with Wayland. This feature allows you to choose the optimal size of elements on displays with high pixel density (HiDPI), for example, you can increase the interface elements that are displayed not 2 times, but 1.5 times.
The Linux kernel has been updated to version 5.4 and the LZ4 algorithm continues to be used to compress the kernel and the initial boot image initramf, reducing the boot time due to faster decompression of data.
On the part of the system components were updated the following: Glibc 2.31, BlueZ 5.53, OpenJDK 11, rustc 1.41, GCC 9.3, Python 3.8.2, ruby 2.7.0, Ruby on Rails 5.2.3, php 7.4, perl 5.30, Mesa 20.0, PulseAudio 14.0-pre, Firefox 74.0 , Thunderbird 68.6.0, LibreOffice 6.4, QEMU 4.2, libvirt 6.0, Bind 9.16, HAProxy 2.0, OpenSSH 8.2 (with support for FIDO / U2F two-factor authentication tokens) and in Apache httpd you have enabled TLSv1.3 support.
Also compared to the previous version of LTS, Snap Store has replaced Ubuntu software as the default tool for finding and installing regular and add-on packages.
The packages for the i386 architecture as in previous versions were left. To continue the work of outdated programs that remain only in 32-bit form or require 32-bit libraries, compilation and delivery of a separate set of 32-bit packages with libraries is provided.
The development of the experimental ability to install to the root partition with ZFS continued. Implementation of ZFSonLinux updated to version 0.8.3 with support for encryption, hot removal of devices, the "zpool trim" command, acceleration of the "scrub" and "resilver" commands.
To manage ZFS, the zsys daemon is developed, which enables you to run multiple parallel systems with ZFS on one computer, automates snapshot creation, and controls the separation of system data and data that is changed during a user session.
In different snapshots, it can contain different states of the system and switch between them. For example, in case of problems after installing updates, it will be possible to revert to the previous stable state by selecting the previous snapshot. Snapshots can also be used for automatic and transparent backup of user data.
Also added a new splash screen displayed at boot time and the crony time sync daemon is updated to version 3.5 and further isolated from the system by connecting a system call filter.
Download
The test images that were generated are now ready to use and these were created for Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Lubuntu, Kubuntu, Ubuntu Mate, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Xubuntu and UbuntuKylin.
To obtain the system image can be done from the following link.
The image can be recorded on a USB with the help of Etcher.