Ubuntu version history
Releases of Ubuntu—a Linux operating system mostly composed of free and open-source software— are made semiannually by Canonical Ltd using the year and month of the release as a version number. The first Ubuntu release, for example, was Ubuntu 4.10 and was released on 20 October 2004. Consequently, version numbers for future versions are provisional; if the release is delayed until a different month than planned, the version number will change accordingly.
Releases are scheduled every April and October to incorporate new GNOME releases made every March and September. Free support is offered and includes security updates for "main" free software packaged. Every fourth release, scheduled for April of every even-numbered year, is designated as a long-term support release, meaning it receives free support for five years. Non-LTS releases are designed as interim releases and receive free support for nine months. The Expanded Security Maintenance service from the Ubuntu Pro subscription, which is free for personal use on up to five devices, extends long-term support to be ten-years long and include security updates for community-managed "universe" free software packages. The Legacy subscription add-on extends long-term support to fifteen years.
On 19 March 2013, the Ubuntu Technical Board reduced the support period for interim releases from eighteen months to nine. For LTS releases 10.04 and earlier, the desktop version received free support for three years, and the server version for five years. LTS release 12.04 harmonized the support period to five years and introduced the Extended Security Maintenance service as part of the Ubuntu Advantage subscription service. By 26 January 2023, Ubuntu Advantage was rebranded to Ubuntu Pro, and ESM to Expanded Security Maintenance as support for the Universe repository was added to the service. The paid Legacy Support was introduced on 25 March 2024, extending long-term support by 2 years, which increased to five years on 13 November 2025.
Version timeline
Version end-of-life
After each version of Ubuntu has reached its end-of-life time, its repositories are removed from the main Ubuntu servers and consequently the mirrors. Older versions of Ubuntu repositories and releases can be found on the old Ubuntu releases website.Naming convention
Ubuntu releases are also given code names, using an adjective and an animal with the same first letteran alliteratione.g., "Dapper Drake". With the exception of the first two releases, code names are in alphabetical order, and except for the first three releases, the first letters are sequential, allowing a quick determination of which release is newer. As of Ubuntu 17.10, the initial letter "rolled over" and returned to "A". Names are occasionally chosen so that animal appearance or habits reflects some new feature, e.g., "Koala's favourite leaf is Eucalyptus"; see. Ubuntu releases are often referred to using only the adjective portion of the code name, e.g., "Feisty".Release history
Ubuntu 4.10 (Warty Warthog)
Ubuntu 4.10 was released on 20 October 2004 as the inaugural release of Ubuntu. It received support until 30 April 2006. It is built upon Debian, with plans for a new release every six months and eighteen months of support thereafter. It used the ext3 file system. Ubuntu 4.10 was offered as a free download and, through Canonical's ShipIt service, was also mailed to users free of charge in CD format.Similar to UserLinux and unlike other distros at the time—which had the user choose the apps to install—the Debian-based Ubuntu curated "one best FOSS app" for each category, minimizing the amount of questions asked by the installer and the disk space used. Alternatives and additional software could be installed through Debian's Advanced Package Tool, which featured automatic dependency resolution, a feature then only found in commercial and professional Linux distributions. Ubuntu's competitors in the consumer-friendly free-of-charge distributions segment required the user to work out such dependencies themselves and did not use the APT dependency resolution tools due to Debian's notorious complexities and hard installation process, which Ubuntu managed to simplify.
Ubuntu 5.04 (Hoary Hedgehog)
Ubuntu 5.04 was released on 8 April 2005. It received support until 31 October 2006. Ubuntu 5.04 added various new features and packages including installation from USB devices, the Update Manager, an upgrade notifier, readahead, grepmap, suspend, hibernating and standby support, dynamic frequency scaling for processors, the Ubuntu hardware database, Kickstart installation, and APT authentication. Beginning with Ubuntu 5.04, UTF-8 became the default character encoding.Ubuntu 5.10 (Breezy Badger)
Ubuntu 5.10, released on 12 October 2005 and was supported until 13 April 2007. Ubuntu 5.10 added several new features including a graphical bootloader, an Add/Remove Applications tool, a menu editor, an easy language selector, logical volume management support, full Hewlett-Packard printer support, OEM installer support, a new Ubuntu logo in the top-left, and Launchpad integration for bug reporting and software development.Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (Dapper Drake)
Ubuntu 6.06 released on 1 June 2006 and was the first long-term support release, with support continuing until 14 July 2009 for desktops and June 2011 for servers. Ubuntu 6.06 was released behind schedule, having been intended as 6.04. It is sometimes jokingly described as their first "Late To Ship" release. Development was not complete in April 2006 and Mark Shuttleworth approved slipping the release date to June, making it 6.06 instead.Ubuntu 6.06 included several new features, including having the Live CD and Install CD merged onto one disc, a graphical installer on Live CD, Usplash on shutdown as well as startup, a network manager for easy switching of multiple wired and wireless connections, Humanlooks theme implemented using Tango guidelines, based on Clearlooks and featuring orange colors instead of brown, and GDebi graphical installer for package files. Ubuntu 6.06 did not include a means to install from a USB device, but did for the first time allow installation directly onto removable USB devices.