The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the Beta release of the Ubuntu 21.04 Desktop, Server, and Cloud products.
21.04, codenamed “Hirsute Hippo”, continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs.
This Beta release includes images from not only the Ubuntu Desktop, Server, and Cloud products, but also the Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu Budgie, UbuntuKylin, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Studio, and Xubuntu flavours.
The Beta images are known to be reasonably free of showstopper image build or installer bugs, while representing a very recent snapshot of 21.04 that should be representative of the features intended to ship with the final release expected on April 22nd, 2021.
Ubuntu, Ubuntu Server, Cloud Images
Hirsute Beta includes updated versions of most of our core set of packages, including a current 5.11 kernel, and much more.
To upgrade to Ubuntu 21.04 Beta from Ubuntu 20.10, follow these instructions:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HirsuteUpgrades
The Ubuntu 21.04 Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://releases.ubuntu.com/21.04/ (Ubuntu and Ubuntu Server on x86)
This Ubuntu Server image features the next generation Subiquity server installer, bringing the comfortable live session and speedy install of the Ubuntu Desktop to server users.
Additional images can be found at the following links:
http://cloud-images.ubuntu.com/daily/server/hirsute/current/ (Cloud Images)
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/releases/21.04/beta/ (Non-x86)
As fixes will be included in new images between now and release, any daily cloud image from today or later (i.e. a serial of 20210401 or higher) should be considered a Beta image. Bugs found should be filed against the appropriate packages or, failing that, the cloud-images project in Launchpad.
The full release notes for Ubuntu 21.04 Beta can be found at:
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/hirsute-hippo-release-notes
Kubuntu
Kubuntu is the KDE based flavour of Ubuntu. It uses the Plasma desktop and includes a wide selection of tools from the KDE project.
The Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/21.04/beta/
Lubuntu
Lubuntu is a flavor of Ubuntu which uses the Lightweight Qt Desktop Environment (LXQt). The project’s goal is to provide a lightweight yet functional Linux distribution based on a rock-solid Ubuntu base.
The Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/lubuntu/releases/21.04/beta/
Ubuntu Budgie
Ubuntu Budgie is community developed desktop, integrating Budgie Desktop Environment with Ubuntu at its core.
The Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-budgie/releases/21.04/beta/
UbuntuKylin
UbuntuKylin is a flavor of Ubuntu that is more suitable for Chinese users.
The Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntukylin/releases/21.04/beta/
Ubuntu MATE
Ubuntu MATE is a flavor of Ubuntu featuring the MATE desktop environment.
The Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-mate/releases/21.04/beta/
Ubuntu Studio
Ubuntu Studio is a flavor of Ubuntu that provides a full range of multimedia content creation applications for each key workflow: audio, graphics, video, photography and publishing.
The Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/21.04/beta/
Xubuntu
Xubuntu is a flavor of Ubuntu that comes with Xfce, which is a stable, light and configurable desktop environment.
The Beta images can be downloaded at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/21.04/beta/
Regular daily images
Regular daily images for Ubuntu, and all flavours, can be found at:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com
Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for clients, servers and clouds, with a fast and easy installation and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.
Professional technical support is available from Canonical Limited and hundreds of other companies around the world. For more information about support, visit https://ubuntu.com/support
If you would like to help shape Ubuntu, take a look at the list of ways you can participate at: https://ubuntu.com/community/participate
Your comments, bug reports, patches and suggestions really help us to improve this and future releases of Ubuntu. Instructions can be found at: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ReportingBugs
You can find out more about Ubuntu and about this beta release on our website, IRC channel and wiki.
To sign up for future Ubuntu announcements, please subscribe to Ubuntu’s very low volume announcement list at:
https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-announce
Originally posted to the ubuntu-announce mailing list on Thu Apr 1 20:26:42 UTC 2021 by Łukasz ‘sil2100’ Zemczak, on behalf of the Ubuntu Release Team
