Ubuntu’s six-month release cadence has produced over forty distinct versions since Mark Shuttleworth shipped Warty Warthog in October 2004, and keeping track of which ones still receive security patches — let alone which one you should actually install — has become genuinely confusing. This guide maps every release from 4.10 through the upcoming 26.04, explains the LTS-versus-interim trade-off in practical terms, and lays out a decision framework so you can pick the right base for servers, desktops, and containers heading into the second half of 2026. We have been running Ubuntu in production since the Hardy Heron days, and the recommendations here come from maintaining fleets across five LTS generations. Expect sections on the full timeline, the support matrix, upgrade paths, flavour alignment, and a quick-reference FAQ.
The Full Release Timeline
Ubuntu follows a predictable pattern: one release in April, one in October, with every even-year April release designated Long Term Support. That means 6.06, 8.04, 10.04, 12.04, 14.04, 16.04, 18.04, 20.04, 22.04, and 24.04 are the LTS milestones most administrators care about.
Interim releases — the October .10 versions and the odd-year April .04 versions — serve as proving grounds. GNOME updates, kernel bumps, and toolchain refreshes land here first. If you are comfortable reinstalling every nine months (the support window for interims), they give you the freshest stack. If not, stay on LTS.
Notable Milestones
- 4.10 Warty Warthog (2004-10): The one that started it all. GNOME 2.8, Firefox 0.9, a free CD shipping programme that felt revolutionary.
- 8.04 Hardy Heron: First LTS to offer five years of server support. Still the template for “install and forget” deployments.
- 10.04 Lucid Lynx: Refined the LTS model; many enterprises adopted Ubuntu seriously here.
- 12.04 Precise Pangolin: HWE stacks arrived, letting LTS users get newer kernels without a full upgrade.
- 16.04 Xenial Xerus: Snap packages debuted. systemd replaced Upstart. The container era began in earnest.
- 18.04 Bionic Beaver: GNOME replaced Unity as the default desktop. Netplan replaced
/etc/network/interfaces. - 20.04 Focal Fossa: WireGuard in the kernel, ZFS root support in the installer, improved Snap integration.
- 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish: Wayland became the default GNOME session, though Xorg remained available. GNOME 42 triple-buffering landed later via SRU.
- 24.04 Noble Numbat: The current LTS. Ships with Linux 6.8, GNOME 46, improved App Center, and deb-to-snap migration for Firefox and Thunderbird complete.
Understanding the Support Matrix
LTS releases receive five years of standard security updates, extendable to ten years via Ubuntu Pro (free for personal use on up to five machines). Interim releases get nine months. That difference matters enormously for servers: running 23.10 Mantic on a production box means you were already unsupported by July 2024.
A practical rule: if you would not enjoy reinstalling a machine on short notice, use LTS. If the machine is a developer workstation where you actively want the newest Mesa drivers and kernel, interim releases are fine — just budget time for the upgrade treadmill.
Hardware Enablement Stacks
Starting with 12.04, Canonical introduced HWE kernels. On an LTS release, you can opt into the HWE kernel, which backports the kernel from the next interim release. On 24.04, the HWE kernel will eventually bring Linux 6.11 and later 6.14 without requiring a full distribution upgrade. You get new hardware support (GPU drivers, Wi-Fi chipsets) while keeping the stable userspace.
Run hwe-support-status --verbose to check your current HWE state.
Choosing the Right Release in 2026
If you are reading this in early 2026, here is the decision tree:
- Production servers: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS. Full stop. It has nearly four years of standard support remaining and the ecosystem (Docker images, Ansible roles, cloud AMIs) has fully stabilised.
- Desktop daily driver: 24.04 LTS with HWE kernel for the best balance. If you need GNOME 47+ features or bleeding-edge Wayland improvements, consider 25.10 (due October 2025) — but know you are on the nine-month clock.
- Containers and CI: Base images on 24.04. The
ubuntu:24.04Docker image is now the standardlatesttag. - Waiting for 26.04? The next LTS drops in April 2026. It will likely ship GNOME 48, Linux 6.14 or 6.15, and whatever Canonical finalises for the new desktop installer. If you are about to provision a new fleet, waiting two months may be worth it — but 24.04 → 26.04 upgrades should be smooth.
Upgrade Paths That Actually Work
The officially supported upgrade path is LTS → next LTS. You can jump 22.04 → 24.04, but not 20.04 → 24.04 directly. For that, you must step through 22.04 first, or do a clean install.
From experience, the cleanest upgrades happen when you:
- Remove or disable third-party PPAs before running
do-release-upgrade - Ensure your current system is fully updated (
sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade) - Have a working backup — not just /home, but
/etcand any custom systemd units - Run the upgrade from a TTY session rather than inside a desktop environment
We cover the 24.04 upgrade in detail, including Nvidia and Docker PPA pitfalls, in our dedicated upgrade guide.
Ubuntu Flavours and Their Release Alignment
Every official flavour — Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Cinnamon, Ubuntu Unity, Edubuntu — follows the same six-month cadence and shares the same archive. The difference is the default desktop environment and preinstalled applications.
Flavour LTS support varies. Kubuntu and Xubuntu typically offer three years rather than five. Check each flavour’s release notes to confirm.
If you are choosing a flavour for a lightweight machine, our LXQt setup guide and Xfce upgrade guide compare the resource footprints side by side.
What Happens When Support Ends
When a release reaches end of life, the package archive moves to old-releases.ubuntu.com. You can still install packages, but there are no security updates. Running an EOL release on anything internet-facing is asking for trouble.
Canonical’s Ubuntu Pro programme extends LTS support to ten years (and, for 14.04 and 16.04, even beyond via ESM). For legacy fleet machines that cannot be upgraded easily, Pro is a pragmatic lifeline.
Quick-Reference FAQ
How do I check which Ubuntu version I am running?
Run lsb_release -a or cat /etc/os-release.
Can I skip an LTS when upgrading? No. The supported path is sequential: 20.04 → 22.04 → 24.04. You can do a clean install to jump further.
Is Ubuntu Pro free? Yes, for personal use on up to five machines. Register at the Ubuntu Pro dashboard.
When does 24.04 support end? Standard support runs until April 2029. With Ubuntu Pro, security patches continue until 2034.
Should I wait for 26.04? If your hardware is working fine on 24.04, there is no urgency. Upgrade when 26.04.1 (the first point release) ships — typically about three months after the initial release.