The Beta of Impish Indri (to become 21.10 in October) has now been released, and is available for download.

This milestone features images for Kubuntu and other Ubuntu flavours.

Pre-releases of the Impish Indri release are not recommended for:

• Anyone needing a stable system.
• Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues.
• Anyone in a production environment with data or workflows that need to be reliable.

They are, however, recommended for:

• Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs.
• Kubuntu, KDE, and Qt developers.
• Other Ubuntu flavour developers.

The Beta includes some software updates that are ready for broader testing. However, it is an early set of images, so you should expect some bugs.

We STRONGLY advise testers to read the Kubuntu 21.10 Beta release notes before installing or upgrading, and in particular the section on ‘Known issues‘.

Kubuntu is taking part in #UbuntuTestingWeek from from September 23rd to September 29th. Details for all flavours are available on the Ubuntu Discourse announcement.

You can also find more information about the entire 21.10 release (base, kernel, graphics etc) in the main Ubuntu Beta release notes and announcement.

The beta of Hirsute Hippo (to become 21.04 in April) has now been released, and is available for download.

This milestone features images for Kubuntu and other Ubuntu flavours.

Pre-releases of the Hirsute Hippo are not recommended for:

• Anyone needing a stable system
• Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues
• Anyone in a production environment with data or workflows that need to be reliable

They are, however, recommended for:

• Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs
• Kubuntu, KDE, and Qt developers
• Other Ubuntu flavour developers

The Beta includes some software updates that are ready for broader testing. However, it is an early set of images, so you should expect some bugs.

We STRONGLY advise testers to read the Kubuntu 21.04 Beta release notes before installing, and in particular the section on ‘Known issues‘.

Kubuntu is taking part in #UbuntuTestingWeek from 1st to 7th of April, details of which can be found in our Kubuntu 21.04 Testing Week blog post, and in general for all flavours on the Ubuntu Discourse announcement.

You can also find more information about the entire 21.04 release (base, kernel, graphics etc) in the main Ubuntu Beta release notes and announcement.

We’re delighted to announce that we’re participating in another ‘Ubuntu Testing Week’ from April 1st to April 7th with other flavours in the Ubuntu family. On April 1st, the beta version of Kubuntu 21.04 ‘Hirsute Hippo’ will be released after freezing all new changes to its features, user interface, and documentation. Between April 1st and the final release on April 22nd, all efforts by the Kubuntu team and community should be focused on ISO testing, reporting bugs, fixing bugs, and translations right up to final release.

On social media, please use the #UbuntuTestingWeek hashtag if you write about your testing or want to spread the word about the event to your followers. Testers can visit the ISO tracker and read bug reporting tutorials.

You can test without changing your system by running it in a VM (Virtual Machine) with software like VMWare Player, VirtualBox (apt install). Or run Hirsute from USB, SD Card, or DVD to test on your hardware.

There are a variety of ways that you can help test the release, including trying out the various live session and installation test cases from the ISO tracker. If you find a bug, you’ll need a Launchpad account to file it against the package the app is bundled in, which you can find by asking around on the IRC/Telegram/Matrix Kubuntu channels or the user mail list.

Chat live in IRC (Freenode) #ubuntu-quality (or #kubuntu-devel if it cannot be reproduced on other flavours) or Telegram: Ubuntu Testers.

The easiest and fastest way to file a bug is in the command line (Konsole): ubuntu-bug $packagename, such as ubiquity – `ubuntu-bug ubiquity`

It is important to file the bug within the testing environment so that the necessary results are properly provided to the bug-tracker. All you need to provide to the ISO tracker is the bug number.

If the bug is found in the installer, file it against `ubiquity`, or file it against the `linux` if your hardware isn’t working. We encourage those that are willing, to install it either in a VM or on physical hardware. It requires at least 15GB of hard drive space. If you can use it for a few days, more bugs can be discovered and reported.

Please test apps that you regularly use, so you can identify bugs and regressions that should be reported, especially as the recently released Plasma 5.21.3 is bundled in this release. New ISO files are built every day, and you should always test with the most up-to-date ISO. It is easier and faster to update an existing daily ISO file on Linux with the command below. Run in the terminal or konsole from within the folder with the ISO file:

$ zsync http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/daily-live/current/hirsute-desktop-amd64.iso.zsync

We look forward to you joining us to make Kubuntu 21.04 an even bigger success, and hope that you will also test out the other Ubuntu flavours.

The beta of Groovy Gorilla (to become 20.10) has now been released, and is available for download.

This milestone features images for Kubuntu and other Ubuntu flavours.

Pre-releases of the Groovy Gorilla are not recommended for:

• Anyone needing a stable system
• Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues
• Anyone uncomfortable running a possibly frequently broken system
• Anyone in a production environment with data or workflows that need to be reliable

They are, however, recommended for:

• Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs
• Kubuntu, KDE, and Qt developers
• Other Ubuntu flavour developers

The Beta includes some software updates that are ready for broader testing. However, it is an early set of images, so you should expect some bugs.

You can:

• Read more information about the Kubuntu 20.10 Beta in the Release Notes.
• Read the full text of the main Ubuntu Groovy Gorilla announcement.

The Ubuntu Groovy Gorilla Release notes will give more details of changes to the Ubuntu base.

This milestone features images for Kubuntu and other Ubuntu flavours.

Pre-releases of the Cosmic Cuttlefish are not encouraged for:

* Anyone needing a stable system
* Anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage.

They are, however, recommended for:

* Ubuntu flavour developers
* Those who want to help in testing, reporting, and fixing bugs as we work towards getting this release ready.
* the Beta includes some software updates that are ready for broader testing. However, it is an early set of images, so you should expect some bugs.

You can:

Read more information about the Kubuntu 18.10 Beta: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CosmicCuttlefish/ReleaseNotes/Kubuntu

Download the Kubuntu 18.10 Beta images

Read the full text of the main Ubuntu Cosmic Beta announcement https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-release/2018-September/004601.html

Read the main Ubuntu Cosmic Release notes, that may give more details of changes to the Ubuntu base: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CosmicCuttlefish/ReleaseNotes

The Kubuntu team will be releasing 17.10 on October 19, 2017.

This is the final Beta pre-release. Kubuntu Beta pre-releases are NOT recommended for:

• Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues
• Anyone who needs a stable system
• Anyone uncomfortable running a possibly frequently broken system
• Anyone in a production environment with data or workflows that need to be reliable

Kubuntu Beta pre-releases are recommended for:

• Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs
• Kubuntu, KDE, and Qt developers

Getting Kubuntu 17.10 Beta 2:

To upgrade to Kubuntu 17.10 pre-releases from 17.04, run

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

from a command line.

Download a Bootable image and put it onto a DVD or USB Drive here:

http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/17.10/beta-2/

Torrents are also available.

See our release notes: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtfulAardvark/Beta2/Kubuntu

Please report any bugs on Launchpad using the commandline:

ubuntu-bug packagename

Check on IRC channels, Kubuntuforum or the Kubuntu mail lists if you don’t know the package name.

KDE bugs (bugs in Plasma or KDE applications) are still filed at https://bugs.kde.org.

The Kubuntu team will be releasing 17.10 in October. The final Beta 2 milestone will be available on September 28.

This is the first spin in preparation for the Beta 2 pre-release. Kubuntu Beta pre-releases are NOT recommended for:

• Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues
• Anyone who needs a stable system
• Anyone uncomfortable running a possibly frequently broken system
• Anyone in a production environment with data or workflows that need to be reliable

Kubuntu Beta pre-releases are recommended for:

• Regular users who want to help us test by finding, reporting, and/or fixing bugs
• Kubuntu, KDE, and Qt developers

Getting Kubuntu 17.10 Beta 2:

To upgrade to Kubuntu 17.10 pre-releases from 17.04, run sudo do-release-upgrade -d from a command line.

Download a Bootable image and put it onto a DVD or USB Drive via the download link at http://iso.qa.ubuntu.com/qatracker/milestones/382/builds. This is also the direct link to report your findings and any bug reports you file.

See our release notes: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ArtfulAardvark/Beta2/Kubuntu

Please report your results on the Release tracker.

Today the Kubuntu team is happy to announce that Kubuntu Zesty Zapus (17.04) Beta 1 is released . With this Beta 1 pre-release, you can see and test what we are preparing for 17.04, which we will be releasing in April.

NOTE: This is Beta 1 Release. Kubuntu Beta Releases are NOT recommended for:

* Regular users who are not aware of pre-release issues
* Anyone who needs a stable system
* Anyone uncomfortable running a possibly frequently broken system
* Anyone in a production environment with data or work-flows that need to be reliable

Getting Kubuntu 17.04 Beta 1:
* Upgrade from 16.10: run `do-release-upgrade -d` from a command line.
* Download a bootable image (ISO) and put it onto a DVD or USB Drive : http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/kubuntu/releases/zesty/beta-1/

Release notes: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/ZestyZapus/Beta1/Kubuntu

October 13 is coming up fast and we need testers for this second Beta. Betas are for regular users who want to help us test by finding issues, reporting them or helping fix them. Installing on hardware or in a VM, it’s a great way to help your favorite community-driven Ubuntu based distribution.

Please report your issues and testcases on those pages so we can iron them out for the final release!
For 32 Bit users
For 64 Bit users

Beta 2 download

We are preparing Kubuntu Xenial Xerus (16.04 LTS) for distribution on April 21, 2016. With this Beta 2 pre-release, you can see what we are trying out in preparation for our next stable version. We would love to get some testing by our users.

Plasma 5, the next generation of KDE’s desktop has been rewritten to make it smoother to use while retaining the familiar setup. The fifth set of updates to Plasma 5 is the default in this version of Kubuntu. Plasma 5.6 should be available in backports soon after release of the LTS.

Kubuntu comes with KDE Applications 15.12 containing all your favorite apps from KDE, including Dolphin. Even more applications have been ported to KDE Frameworks 5 but those which aren’t should fit in seamlessly. Non-KDE applications include LibreOffice 5.1 and Firefox 45.

Please see Release Notes for more details, where to download, and known problems. We welcome help to fix those final issues; please join the Kubuntu-Devel mail list[1], just hop into #kubuntu-devel on freenode to connect with us.

1. Kubuntu-devel mail list: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-devel