The KDE neon team has officially announced that it has upgraded its system foundation from Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish) to Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat). This much-anticipated transition brings a new layer of stability, performance, and compatibility to the KDE neon experience.
For those unfamiliar with it, KDE neon is an Ubuntu-based Linux distro built by the KDE community, focused on providing the latest Plasma desktop environment and KDE applications on a stable base.
In other words, it serves as a showcase for the latest KDE technologies, and it’s ideal for users who want to experience the most up-to-date KDE software without waiting for it to be packaged in other distributions.
Every two years, KDE neon receives an update to align with the latest Ubuntu LTS release, ensuring users benefit from the newest improvements and a solid system foundation. However, issues began to emerge with the 22.04 base growing increasingly outdated.
For example, an older version of PipeWire was causing compatibility headaches, and even popular applications like Krita faced compilation challenges. The move to the latest Ubuntu 24.04 LTS (Noble Numbat) release puts these concerns to rest, offering users a more modern and efficient platform.
Transitioning to the new Ubuntu 24.04 LTS base is designed to be seamless. Users can follow the “Noble Upgrade” instructions available on the KDE website or simply click on the upgrade notification that will pop up soon.
Keep in mind that KDE neon offers four different editions:
- User Edition: Aimed at regular users who want the latest stable versions of KDE software.
- Testing Edition: For those who want to try pre-release versions of KDE software.
- Unstable Edition: For users who want to try the bleeding edge of KDE development (i.e., nightly builds).
- Developer Editions: Geared towards developers contributing to KDE, allowing them to test development branches of KDE software.
Of course, the recommended release to go for is “User Edition,” where you will find the latest stable version of the KDE desktop, Plasma 6.2, accompanied by KDE Frameworks 6.6 and the KDE Gear 24.08.1 apps collection.