Ubuntu in 2025: The 10 Biggest Changes That Shaped the Distro’s Future

As we stagger into 2026—coffee in hand and system updates still downloading—it’s the perfect moment to look back at what Ubuntu actually accomplished in 2025. And make no mistake: this was a foundational year for the world’s most popular Linux distribution.

Ubuntu didn’t just ship new versions. It redefined core components, modernized aging infrastructure, tightened security in subtle but critical ways, and laid the groundwork for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. From Rust-powered system tools to the quiet death of X11, from RISC-V controversy to Raspberry Pi reliability gains, 2025 was packed with changes that will echo for years.

Here are 10 major things Ubuntu introduced, changed, or committed to in 2025—presented clearly, honestly, and without nostalgia goggles.

1. Ubuntu Embraced Rust at the Core

2025 marked the year Ubuntu seriously began its “oxidation” strategy—replacing critical system components written in C with safer alternatives written in Rust.

Ubuntu 25.10 shipped with sudo-rs, a Rust-based reimplementation of the classic sudo command, along with Rust replacements for core utilities like ls, cp, and mv.

This wasn’t about chasing trends. It was about security.

Rust’s memory safety eliminates entire classes of vulnerabilities—buffer overflows, use-after-free bugs, and other issues that have plagued low-level system tools for decades. While the transition wasn’t flawless (some users experienced edge-case bugs and silent failures during early updates), the direction was clear.

Ubuntu showed it’s willing to modernize aggressively when the security benefits justify it.

2. GNOME 48 and 49 Delivered a One-Two Punch

Ubuntu users received two major GNOME desktop releases in 2025, each bringing meaningful improvements.

GNOME 48 (Ubuntu 25.04)

• Screen time and digital wellbeing tools
• Battery lifespan controls for laptops
• Notification grouping
• HDR display support
• Canonical’s long-standing triple buffering patches finally merged upstream, improving performance for all GNOME users—not just Ubuntu

GNOME 49 (Ubuntu 25.10)

• Media and power controls on the lock screen
• Major accessibility improvements
• A redesigned Nautilus search experience
• Smoother UI animations
• A massive Mutter update with significantly improved fractional scaling

Ubuntu doesn’t develop GNOME, but Canonical remains deeply involved upstream—and in 2025, Ubuntu users clearly benefited from that collaboration.

3. X11 Was Finally Shown the Exit (Mostly)

Ubuntu 25.10 removed the X11 desktop session from default installations.

This wasn’t a shock. Wayland has been Ubuntu’s default display server since 2021, and GNOME developers themselves disabled X11 support in GNOME 49, with full removal planned for GNOME 50.

Important clarifications:

• X11 apps still work via Xwayland
• Xorg packages remain available in Ubuntu repositories
• Ubuntu flavors and Ubuntu 24.04 LTS continue to support X11
• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS now offers up to 15 years of support, so nobody is being forced to migrate

For most users, the change went unnoticed—which is exactly how a good transition should feel.

4. Monthly Development Snapshots Entered the Pipeline

Ubuntu introduced Monthly Snapshots in 2025, but this was not a move toward a rolling release model.

Instead, this was a process overhaul.

These snapshots coexist with daily builds, betas, and release candidates. What’s different is how they’re created. Ubuntu now uses Temporal, an open-source workflow engine that converts release checklists into testable Go functions.

The goal?

• More automation
• Fewer human errors
• Better documentation
• More reliable releases

It’s a boring infrastructure change—but the best ones usually are.

Ubuntu also introduced “Dangerous” builds, which sound scary but simply offer faster access to experimental changes for testers.

5. The Installer Got Smarter (and More Secure)

The Ubuntu installer saw meaningful improvements in 2025, especially around encryption and multi-boot setups.

Key updates included:

• Experimental TPM-backed Full Disk Encryption
• Clearer warnings and guidance for LUKS encryption
• Prominent recovery key creation and management
• Better detection of existing operating systems
• Safer installs alongside Windows BitLocker
• Easier replacement of existing Ubuntu installations

TPM encryption isn’t perfect yet, but Canonical clearly intends to make it a reliable, mainstream option.

6. RISC-V Support Took a Controversial Turn

Canonical raised Ubuntu’s RISC-V baseline to RVA23, instantly making most consumer RISC-V hardware incompatible with new Ubuntu releases.

That sounds harsh—but the reasoning is technical, not dismissive.

RVA23 brings RISC-V closer to modern architectures like ARMv9 in terms of performance and capabilities. Supporting everything forever would hold the platform back.

Important context:

• Ubuntu 24.04 LTS still supports older RISC-V hardware
• That LTS will receive updates for years
• Other distros remain available

If you plan to experiment with RISC-V in 2026, hardware compatibility matters more than ever.

7. Raspberry Pi Finally Got A/B Booting

Ubuntu 25.10 introduced A/B booting on Raspberry Pi devices.

This means:

• Two bootable system images
• Automatic rollback if an update fails
• No more bricked headless Pi servers after bad updates

Additional Pi improvements included:

• Smaller default installs
• Fewer preinstalled desktop apps
• Support for newer models like Raspberry Pi 5 and Compute Module 5

This was the most attention Ubuntu has given Raspberry Pi users in years—and it paid off.

8. Time Synchronization Became a Security Feature

Time synchronization doesn’t sound exciting—until you realize it’s a security attack vector.

In 2025:

• Ubuntu 25.04 introduced Network Time Security (NTS)
• Ubuntu 25.10 enabled NTS by default using Chrony
• Time traffic is now encrypted and authenticated

This prevents attackers from manipulating system clocks and breaking certificates, logs, or authentication mechanisms.

It’s invisible. It’s boring. And it’s exactly the kind of security improvement users should want.

9. Default Apps Got a Much-Needed Refresh

Ubuntu continued modernizing its default apps by switching to GTK4 and libadwaita-based replacements.

Changes included:

• Papers replaced Evince as the default PDF viewer
• Loupe replaced Eye of GNOME for image viewing
• Ptyxis replaced GNOME Terminal

The older apps remain available, and upgrades don’t forcibly remove them. But the new defaults are cleaner, faster, and better aligned with GNOME’s future.

This time, the changes felt intentional—not arbitrary.

10. Dracut Replaced initramfs-tools

Ubuntu quietly adopted Dracut as its default initramfs generator.

Why it matters:

• Modular, modern hardware detection
• Better support for encrypted networking
• Bluetooth input support during early boot
• Less guesswork, fewer hacks, faster boots

You probably didn’t notice the change—and that’s the point. Boot systems should be invisible when they work correctly.

Bonus: The Trash Icon Was Finally Fixed

A small but symbolic win: Ubuntu redesigned its infamous trash icon in 2025.

The awkward post-box design is gone. In its place? An icon that actually looks like trash.

The Yaru design team also cleaned up spacing, icons, radii inconsistencies, and visual polish across the desktop. Small details, big difference.

Conclusion

Ubuntu’s 2025 wasn’t flashy—but it was foundational.

Security was hardened. Infrastructure was modernized. Legacy components were retired. Risky decisions were made early to protect the long-term health of the distro. Most importantly, much of the groundwork for Ubuntu 26.04 LTS was quietly put in place.

If 2026’s LTS release succeeds—and it likely will—it’s because 2025 did the hard work first.