Ubuntu 25.04 is out of beta today and ready for prime time as the latest Linux distro release from Canonical. While it’s only an interim release, there’s a lot here to unpack.

Nicknamed “Plucky Puffin”, this version of Ubuntu will be especially helpful to gamers because it by default enables NVIDIA Dynamic Boost. When your laptop has a discrete GPU (meaning one that isn’t integrated with CPU), your PC’s individual usage the CPU or the GPU’s capabilities fluctuates constantly, depending on the needs of the applications you’re running. Dynamic Boost manages the power for both of those units, continually allocating and reallocating power so that each unit always has the optimal amount of power it needs to do its job.

This optimization function operates via the nvidia-powerd daemon and of course only works with NVIDIA GPUs. So unless you have a laptop with a discrete NVIDIA GPU, not an integrated GPU, then it won’t be relevant to you.

Also showing up with Ubuntu 25.04 is the the Linux kernel version 6.14. As always, the kernel release brings its own upgrades, including the ntsync primitive driver that makes Wine and other Windows compatibility layers manage resources more efficiently. There’s also better support of AMD’s XDNA neural processing unit architecture, and plus support for more gaming controllers and other peripherals.

GNOME 48 is another big arrival. It features a new “Wellbeing” section in the settings app, letting you track and limit your screen time. The settings app also now lets you manage HDR configuration if you have an HDR-compatible monitor. There’s improved dual-booting with Bitlocker-encrypted Windows installations too.

There are several application updates too, including GIMP 3.0, LibreOffice 25.2, Thunderbird 128 “Supernova,” and Firefox 137. There are library and toolchain improvements too, including:

• GCC 14.2
• binutils 2.44
• glibc 2.41
• Qt 6.8.2
• systemd v257.4
• OpenSSL 3.4.1
• Python 3.13 by default
• LLVM 20 by default
• Rust 1.84 by default

To learn more, check out the Ubuntu 25.04 release notes. Keep in mind this isn’t an LTS (Long-Term Support) Ubuntu release, so it will only get updates for nine months. At that point, if you’re using Ubuntu 25.04, you’ll have to upgrade to what will be Ubuntu 25.10 to keep getting updates.

If you want to give Ubuntu 25.04 a try, you can get it from the Ubuntu download page. You’ll need to boot the ISO with a USB drive or launch it as a virtual machine with your preferred virtualization tool.

In some cases, you can upgrade an existing version of Ubuntu to Ubuntu 25.04. To check, launch the Software & Updates app, go to the Updates tab, and look for the option labeled “Notify Me of a New Ubuntu Version.” Change the drop-down menu selection to “For Any New Version” to make sure you get invited to upgrade to 25.04. It won’t happen immediately unless you open Software Updater and force an update check. If you want to proceed with an upgrade, make sure you back up your data before proceeding, just in case.

Alternatively, you can run this command which will check for a new release of Ubuntu:

sudo do-release-upgrade -c

If it tells you an upgrade is possible, then run this command and follow the prompts:

sudo do-release-upgrade

If Ubuntu proper isn’t your cup of tea, keep an eye out too for version 25.04 of several of Ubuntu’s “flavors” debuting today. They include Kubuntu, which is my preferred Ubuntu flavor, and others like Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Ubuntu Studio, Ubuntu Unity, Ubuntu MATE, Ubuntu Kylin, and Edubuntu.