Ubuntu 26.10 (Stonking Stingray) is an Ubuntu operating-system release with GNOME 51 desktop updates, new hardware and encryption capabilities, and refreshed server components. It is intended for desktop users and administrators evaluating or deploying the interim release during its nine-month support period.
Ubuntu 26.10, codenamed Stonking Stingray, is an Ubuntu operating-system release documented for both desktop and server users. Its release notes describe new features, package updates, and behavior changes across the desktop environment, security, hardware support, networking, and server software.
The desktop release updates the GNOME environment to version 51 and adds changes to App Center, display and accessibility settings, encryption installation, window tiling, speech-to-text, and system services. Server-side updates include newer FreeRADIUS, FRRouting, HAProxy, and iPXE versions, giving administrators release-specific information when evaluating or deploying the interim release.
The desktop includes performance improvements, smoother frame scheduling under load, improved monitor arrangement, remembered monitor brightness, HDR-related display handling, and automatic rotation options on devices with an accelerometer.
App Center combines Snap and Debian package information in one app-details view and adds a Drivers page with metadata for available graphics-driver choices, including NVIDIA branches where applicable.
App Center can install codecs needed for one-time playback when a media file uses a codec that is not installed. Some high-quality codecs remain proprietary and are not included by default.
Ubuntu Desktop can install TPM-backed full disk encryption on computers without a hardware root of trust when a PIN or passphrase is set on the TPM-backed key. Upgrades from Ubuntu 26.04 LTS under this configuration were not available at release, although the notes anticipate support during the 26.10 lifecycle.
Settings can display whether a computer is Ubuntu certified, using the Ubuntu Hardware API with caching. The hwctl client used for this function is included as a snap.
The default D-Bus implementation changes from dbus-daemon to dbus-broker for both the system bus and per-user session bus. The release notes cite its asynchronous, event-driven architecture and expected accounting, reliability, and scalability improvements.
Desktop users can evaluate a GNOME 51-based Ubuntu environment with updated display handling, accessibility controls, window tiling, Files and Calendar behavior, and remote desktop capabilities.
Users managing supported hardware can check Ubuntu certification status in Settings, review available graphics-driver choices in App Center, and install a missing codec for one-time media playback when needed.
Administrators can use the release notes to assess updated networking and infrastructure components, including FreeRADIUS, FRRouting, HAProxy, and iPXE, before adopting the release in server environments.
Security-conscious desktop users can install TPM-backed full disk encryption on certain computers that lack a hardware root of trust, provided they configure a PIN or passphrase for the TPM-backed key.
Ubuntu 26.10 was released on 15 October 2026 and is supported for nine months, until July 2027. The release notes refer users to the Ubuntu release cycle for further lifecycle details.
Upgrade instructions are provided through the Ubuntu Desktop and Ubuntu Server guides, depending on the installation being upgraded.
Yes. The release includes TPM-backed full disk encryption on computers without a hardware root of trust, but a PIN or passphrase must also be set on the TPM-backed key.
Myna is an early Ubuntu Desktop speech-to-text preview. It is not preinstalled, requires a configurable key to start dictation, and processes transcription locally without sending audio to a network service.
Ubuntu 26.10 uses dbus-broker as the default implementation for both the system bus and per-user session bus. The release notes describe it as asynchronous and event-driven, with improvements in accounting, reliability, and scalability compared with dbus-daemon.
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