Introduction

We are preparing Kubuntu Lunar Lobster (23.04) for release in April, 2023. With this Beta pre-release, you can see what we are testing in preparation for our next version.

NOTE:

This is Beta 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 workflows that need to be reliable

Kubuntu Beta Releases are recommended for:

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

Please report your installation results on the Release tracker.

General bug reporting guidelines can be found here: ReportingBugs.

Getting Kubuntu 23.04 Beta

Upgrading from 22.10

To upgrade to a Kubuntu 23.04 pre-release version, run sudo do-release-upgrade -d from a command line.

Download a Disk Image

Download a Bootable image. Direct downloads, torrents, and zysnc are available as options.

New features and changes in 23.04 Beta

Core desktop and applications

Plasma 5.27: simple by default, powerful when needed

Plasma 5.27 has been developed to make it smoother to use while retaining the familiar setup. Plasma 5.27 is intended to be an LTS, to be supported at least until Plasma 6.0 is released.

KDE Applications updates, including KDE Gear 22.12 and other updated apps

Web browser and office suite

• Firefox 111 snap is the default browser from the Snap Store.

• LibreOffice 7.5 is provided by default in the full installation.

Qt

Kubuntu 23.04 Beta ships with Qt 5.15.8.

Pipewire

Pipewire is now the default, replacing pulseaudio.

Other highlights/notes

Plasma Wayland session

• A Plasma Wayland session is available for testing, but is not supported. A Wayland session can be started by selecting it at the login screen.

Known issues

Installer and live session

• (1946803) Clicking on URLs in Kubuntu Installer Slideshow does nothing

• (1681830) Ubiquity installer - No Label shown for where to enter LVM Encryption Passwords fields

• (1706859) Auto-selected keyboard layout no longer matches chosen region on "Where are you" page

• (1967015) Release notes link in KDE frontend launches Kate

Other issues

• All bugs tagged with Kubuntu

Feedback

Development of Kubuntu 23.04, Lunar Lobster, is ongoing and bugs are fixed every day. Before reporting bugs, please ensure your system is up to date. For verifying installation related bugs, updated disk images are available from Daily bootable images for standard PCs and laptops.

You can give us feedback on Facebook or Twitter.