The Ubuntu Studio team is pleased to announce the beta release of
Ubuntu Studio 25.04, codenamed “Plucky Puffin”.While this beta is
reasonably free of any showstopper installer bugs, you will find some
bugs within. This image is, however, mostly representative of what you
will find when Ubuntu Studio 25.04 is released on April 17, 2025.
We encourage everyone to try this image and report bugs to improve our
final release.
Special NotesThe Ubuntu Studio 25.04 image (ISO) exceeds 4 GB and cannot be
downloaded to some file systems such as FAT32 and may not be readable
when burned to a DVD. For this reason, we recommend downloading to a
compatible file system. When creating a boot medium, we
recommend creating a bootable USB stick [3] with the ISO image or
burning to a Dual-Layer DVD.
Images can be obtained from this
link: https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/25.0 [4]4/beta/
[4]
Full updated information, including Upgrade Instructions, are available
in the Release Notes [5]. [6]
New Features This ReleaseThis release is more evolutionary rather than
revolutionary. While we
work hard to bring new features, this one was not one where we had
anything major to report. Here are a few highlights:
* Plasma 6.3 is now the default desktop environment, an upgrade from
Plasma 6.1.
* PipeWire continues to improve with every release.. Version 1.2.7
* The Default Panel Icons are now back. The default panel now
populates depending on which applications are available, so that
there are never empty icons if you choose the minimal install, and
then install one or more of our featured applications. This refresh
to the default is done every reboot, so it’s not a live update.
Additionally, it must be refreshed manually from the User side
either by selecting the Global Theme or removing the panel and
adding “Ubuntu Studio Default Panel”.
* While not included in this Beta, Darktable will be upgraded to 5.0.0
before final release.
Major Package Upgrades * Ardour version 8.12.0
* Qtractor version 1.5.3
* Audacity version 3.7.3
* digiKam version 8.5.0
* Kdenlive version 24.12.3
* Krita version 5.2.9
* GIMP version 3.0.0
There are many other improvements, too numerous to list here. We
encourage you to look around the freely-downloadable ISO image.
Known Issues * The installer was supposed to be able to keep the screen from
locking, [1]but this will still happen after 15 minutes. Please
keep the screen active during installation. As a workaround if you
know you will be keeping your machine unattended during
installation, press Alt-Space to invoke Krunner (this even works
from the Install Ubuntu Studio versus the Try Ubuntu Studio live
environment) and type “System Settings”. From there, search for
“Screen Locking” and deactivate “Lock automatically after…”.
Another possible workaround is to click on “Switch User” and then
re-login as “Live User” without a password if this happens.
* You will be prompted, upon first login of any new user, to reboot to
apply proper audio configurations for audio production. This is
intentional and is a workaround for the installer’s inability
to configure the first user as part of the “audio” group or for new
users to be added to the audio group automatically. [2]
* The Installer background and slideshow still show the Oracular
Oriole mascot. This is work in progress, to be fixed in a daily
release sometime between now and final release.
Official Ubuntu Studio release notes can be found
at https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ubuntu-studio-25-04-release-notes/
Further known issues, mostly pertaining to the desktop environment, can
be found at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PluckyPuffin/ReleaseNotes/Kubuntu
Additionally, the main Ubuntu release notes contain more generic
issues: https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/plucky-puffin-release-notes/
How You Can HelpPlease test using the test cases on https://iso.qa.ubuntu.com.
All you
need is a Launchpad [7] account to get started.
Additionally, we need financial contributions. Our project lead, Erich
Eickmeyer, is working long hours on this project and trying to generate
a part-time income. Go here [8] to see how you can contribute
financially (options are also in the sidebar).
Frequently Asked QuestionsQ: Does Ubuntu Studio contain snaps?
A: Yes. Mozilla’s distribution agreement with Canonical changed, and
Ubuntu was forced to no longer distribute Firefox in a native .deb
package. We have found that, after numerous improvements, Firefox now
performs just as well as the native .deb package did.
Thunderbird is also a snap this cycle in order for the maintainers to
get security patches delivered faster.
Additionally, Freeshow is an Electron-based application. Electron-based
applications cannot be packaged in the Ubuntu repositories in that they
cannot be packaged in a traditional Debian source package. While such
apps do have a build system to create a .deb binary package, it
circumvents the source package build system in Launchpad, which is
required when packaging for Ubuntu. However, Electron apps also have a
facility for creating snaps, which can be uploaded and included.
Therefore, for Freeshow to be included in Ubuntu Studio, it had to be
packaged as a snap.
Also, to keep theming consistent, all included themes are snapped in
addition to the included .deb versions so that snaps stay consistent
with out themes.
We are working with Canonical to make sure that the quality of snaps
goes up with each release, so we please ask that you give snaps a
chance instead of writing them off completely.
Q: If I install this Beta release, will I have to reinstall when the
final release comes out?
A: No. If you keep it updated, your installation will automatically
become the final release. However, if Audacity returns to the Ubuntu
repositories before final release, then you might end-up with a double-
installation of Audacity. Removal instructions of one or the other will
be made available in a future post.
Q: Will you make an ISO with {my favorite desktop environment}?
A: To do so would require creating an entirely new flavor of Ubuntu,
which would require going through the Official Ubuntu Flavor
application process. Since we’re completely volunteer-run, we don’t
have the time or resources to do this. Instead, we recommend you
download the official flavor for the desktop environment of your choice
[9] and use Ubuntu Studio Installer [10] to get Ubuntu Studio – which
does *not* convert that flavor to Ubuntu Studio but adds its benefits.
Q: What if I don’t want all these packages installed on my machine?
A: We now include a minimal install option. Install using the minimal
install option, then use Ubuntu Studio Installer to install what you
need for your very own content creation studio.
[1] The installer was supposed to be able to keep the screen from locking,
https://launchpad.net/bugs/2062402
[2] configure the first user as part of the “audio” group or for new users to
be added to the audio group automatically.
https://launchpad.net/bugs/2063899
[3] creating a bootable USB stick
https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-ubuntu#1-overview
[4] https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/25.0
https://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntustudio/releases/25.04/beta/
[5] Release Notes
https://discourse.ubuntu.com/t/ubuntu-studio-25-04-release-notes/
[6] . https://wiki.ubuntu.com/GroovyGorilla/Beta/UbuntuStudio
[7] Launchpad https://launchpad.net/
[8] Go here https://ubuntustudio.org/contribute/
[9] official flavor for the desktop environment of your choice
https://ubuntu.com/download/flavours
[10] Ubuntu Studio Installer
https://ubuntustudio.org/ubuntu-studio-installer
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