The release announcement detailing the new features and improvements in Plasma 5.22 can be found here.

To upgrade:

Add the following repository to your software sources list:

ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

or if it is already added, the updates should become available via your preferred update method.

The PPA can be added manually in the Konsole terminal with the command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

and packages then updated with

sudo apt full-upgrade

IMPORTANT

Please note that more bugfix releases are scheduled by KDE for Plasma 5.22, so while we feel these backports will be beneficial to enthusiastic adopters, users wanting to use a Plasma release with more rounds of stabilisation/bugfixes ‘baked in’ may find it advisable to stay with Plasma 5.21 as included in the original 21.04 (Hirsute) release.

The Kubuntu Backports PPA for 21.04 also currently contains newer versions of KDE Frameworks, Applications, and other KDE software. The PPA will also continue to receive updates of KDE packages other than Plasma.

Issues with Plasma itself can be reported on the KDE bugtracker [1]. In the case of packaging or other issues, please provide feedback on our mailing list [2], IRC [3], and/or file a bug against our PPA packages [4].

1. KDE bugtracker: https://bugs.kde.org
2. Kubuntu-devel mailing list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-devel
3. Kubuntu IRC channels: #kubuntu & #kubuntu-devel on irc.libera.chat
4. Kubuntu ppa bugs: https://bugs.launchpad.net/kubuntu-ppa

Frameworks releases are a mixture of bugfixes, new features, and general improvements to the KDE base libraries.

As such, keen adopters who might like to install this backport can check the changelog to what has been fixed/changed/enhanced.

To upgrade:

Add the following repository to your software sources list:

ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

or if it is already added, the updates should become available via your preferred update method.

The PPA can be added manually in the Konsole terminal with the command:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:kubuntu-ppa/backports

and packages then updated with

sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade

Codenamed “Hirsute Hippo”, Kubuntu 21.04 continues our tradition of giving you Friendly Computing by 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.

Under the hood, there have been updates to many core packages, including a new 5.11-based kernel, KDE Frameworks 5.80, KDE Plasma 5.21 and KDE Release Service Applications 20.12.3

Kubuntu has seen many updates for other applications, both in our default install, and installable from the Ubuntu archive.

Krita, Kdevelop, Yakuake, and many many more applications are updated.

Applications for core day to day usage are included and updated, such as Firefox, VLC and Libreoffice.

For a list of other application updates, and known bugs be sure to read our release notes.

Download Kubuntu 21.04, or learn how to upgrade from 20.10.

Note: From 20.10, there may a delay of a few hrs to days between the official release announcements and the Ubuntu Release Team enabling upgrades.