Canonical, the creator of the Linux distribution Ubuntu, has announced the availability of the 22.04.1 point release. This clears the way for existing users to upgrade the system using the built-in utility.

Ubuntu Users Can Now Upgrade

The official Ubuntu account enticed users who may have been waiting to upgrade to the new system with a Twitter post. The post includes a slick desktop tour video that shows the new interface enhancements:

Ubuntu point releases typically come several months after a major release. This release follows the Ubuntu 22.04 "Jammy Jellyfish" release in April 2022. The point release comes after a slight delay in early August 2022 to fix some last-minute bugs. Ubuntu only allows users to upgrade using the upgrade tool after the first point release. Impatient users can simply download an image beforehand.

This is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, meaning that Canonical recommends this version to most users and that the company will support it until April 2027.

The effort that has gone into bug fixes in this release is shown by the number of changes listed on the Discourse page devoted to it.

What's New in Ubuntu 22.04.1?

The new version of Ubuntu sports a 5.17 Linux kernel on certified devices, with a 5.15 version on other machines. It also includes a customized version of the GNOME 42 desktop, which features an enhanced dark mode and some new applications. It uses the Wayland display system by default, with the traditional X11 display server as a fallback for unsupported hardware.

One major change has attracted criticism from the Ubuntu community. Ubuntu 22.04 changes the default Firefox browser package from an APT package to a Snap. While this makes deploying new versions to Ubuntu easier for upstream Firefox developers, some users have complained of slowness when they first launch Firefox.

The developers have been working on reducing launch times but it may take some time before any performance improvements make their way into Ubuntu.

Will Ubuntu 22.04 Upgrade Be Worth the Wait?

After the delay of the point release, some users may wonder if the upgrade is worth the wait. As with Windows, some Ubuntu users prefer a "clean install," overwriting the existing installation, as they believe that this eliminates any hiccups with an upgrade. Some may disagree with the changes and stick with their existing installation.

Users of the earlier LTS release, Ubuntu 20.04, may be in no rush. They have until April 2025, when standard support ends, to upgrade or find another Linux distribution.

Ubuntu Keeps Rolling With New Version

Despite some of the criticism of Ubuntu, it seems that the distro will be around for a long time with Canonical's backing. With the new upgrade, Ubuntu users may want to extend their skills. There is always something new to explore on Linux systems, and Ubuntu is no exception. Ubuntu offers many opportunities for ordinary users to become power users.