Provides a minimal install option in the graphical installer

Apr 26, 2018 23:35 GMT  ·  By

The Kubuntu 18.04 LTS operating system has been released today as part of the Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) launch, and it's a major release that brings several new features and numerous enhancements.

Shipping with the KDE Plasma 5.12.4 LTS desktop environment by default, accompanied by the KDE Applications 17.12.3 and KDE Frameworks 5.44.0 software suites, the Kubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) release is powered by the Linux 4.15 kernel and will be supported for three years with security and software updates, until April 2021.

"Plasma 5.12 LTS, the latest release of KDE's desktop has been developed to make it smoother to use while retaining the familiar setup. Plasma Vault, for creating and managing encrypted folders seamlessly in Plasma, also arrives in the Ubuntu archive with this release," reads the release notes.

Here's what's new in Kubuntu 18.04 LTS

Prominent new features of the Kubuntu 18.04 LTS release include a dark Breeze KDE Plasma theme by default, though all desktop apps are still using the light Breeze theme, mouse double-clicking is now used by default for opening files, and the integrated Baloo desktop search and file indexer was changed to basic indexing only.

Like Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, Kubuntu 18.04 LTS offers a "minimal install" option in the graphical installer for those who want to install a less bloated system. Removed components include the LibreOffice office suite, KDE PIM applications, Cantata music player, MPD, and various other Internet and Media apps.

Even with the minimal install, a full KDE Plasma desktop is left in place along with all the basic applications and utilities, the Mozilla Firefox web browser, and VLC Media Player, which is now the default media player in Kubuntu 18.04 LTS replacing KDE's Dragon Player.

A normal Kubuntu 18.04 LTS installation ships with numerous apps, among which we can mention LibreOffice 6.0, Firefox 59, KTorrent 5.1, KDEConnect 1.3.0, Falkon 3.0.0, Krita 4.0.1, Amarok 2.90, latte-dock 0.7.4, and Kstars 2.9.4. The Muon package manager is present as well as an alternative to the Plasma Discover graphical package manager.

Plasma Wayland, Google Drive support, and Snap integration

Among other noteworthy changes in Kubuntu 18.04 LTS, we can mention support for accessing and editing your Google Drive files through the kio-gdrive plugin in the Dolphin file manager, as well as support for enabling Snap integration in Plasma Discover by installing the plasma-discover-snap-backend package if you want to use Snaps.

A Plasma Wayland session can also be enabled in Kubuntu 18.04 LTS if you want to experiment with the next-generation Wayland displayer server. For that, you'll have to install the plasma-workspace-wayland package and select the "Plasma Wayland" session at login. However, Plasma Wayland is not supported.

Last but not least, the Telepathy instant messaging client has been removed from the this as it's no longer maintained upstream and caused numerous issues. You can download Kubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) for 32-bit or 64-bit systems right now through our web portal if you want to install it on your personal computer.

Ships with KDE Applications 17.12.3
Ships with KDE Applications 17.12.3

Kubuntu 18.04 LTS (2 Images)

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Ships with KDE Applications 17.12.3
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