Ultramarine Linux 40 is a refreshing update to the distribution

Ultramarine Linux is one of the best Fedora-based distros available and is built with ease of use in mind.

Liked by beginners and veterans alike, most people find it to be a very reliable Linux distribution with everyday drivers that doesn’t get in the way.

It was developed by Fyra Labs and a dedicated community that actively and regularly introduces new improvements to Ultramarine.

In a recent announcement, the developers have introduced Ultramarine Linux 40 which is based on the latest Fedora 40 version.

So let’s take a quick look at this! 😀

Ultramarine Linux 40: What’s new?

a screenshot of the desktop view of the flagship Ultramarine Linux 40 Budgie edition

For starters, this version of Ultramarine Linux is powered by Linux kernel 6.8, which provides better hardware support for Intel, AMD, Raspberry Pi, and even Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processors.

Some the most important information this release includes:

Desktop environment upgrades
Better Raspberry Pi support
New edition

Desktop environment upgrades

screenshot of the flagship Ultramarine Linux 40 Budgie edition

The flagship edition of Ultramarine Linux comes with the latest Budgie 10.9.1 desktop environment. This release includes many bug fixes that focus on improving the user experience.

gnome 46 screenshot for reference — GNOME 46 screenshot for reference

For GNOME editions, we now have GNOME 46, which offers features such as an improved file manager, improved online accounts, better remote sessions, updated core applications, and much more.

screenshot of the Ultramarine Linux 40 KDE plasma version

Similarly, for the KDE Plasma edition, there is now Plasma 6, which includes improvements such as a better Discover app, Wayland by default, new wallpaper, various tweaks to System Settings, and more.

Better Raspberry Pi support

As of this release, Raspberry Pi images now come with desktop environments. For now, you can download Raw images, but Ultramarine will also be available on the Raspberry Pi Imager in the near future.

The developers also shared information that they are working on introducing support for Raspberry Pi 5 and Zero 2.

New edition of XFCE

screenshot of Ultramarine Linux 40 xfce version

Ultramarine Linux 40 also debuts a new “Xfce” edition, which comes with Xfce 4.18. This was adopted earlier this year, and other contenders included Sway, Cinnamon, Server, and Wayfire.

Creators do made the experience very close to standard Xfce, with one key change. They opted for a traditional dock and panel configuration with a modern menu equipped with a search function instead of the split Xfce layout.

Unfortunately, the edition of the Pantheon had to occur at sunset due to increasing maintenance burdens and a shrinking user base.

To summarize, the developers have shared that this is the case is working to bring Ultramarine Linux to Chromebooksand they intend to abandon Anaconda in favor of their own project called “Readymade”.

For more information, head over to the release blog to learn more.

Get Ultramarine Linux 40

You can download the four variants, Budgie, GNOME, Xfce and KDE Plasma from the official website, where you will also find alternative ways to download them, ARM images and Raw images.

⚙️How to update from older versions?

Before you start, make sure you have backed up your system. Then go to the app store for the appropriate versions of Ultramarine Linux (except the Pantheon) to start the update.

To update to the latest version, you can also run the following commands:

sudo dnf upgrade
sudo dnf install dnf-plugin-system-upgrade
sudo dnf system-upgrade download --releasever=40
sudo dnf system-upgrade reboot

If you have further questions, you can refer to the update guide.

💬 Are you excited about this release? Let me know below!

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