Kubuntu News

Kubuntu 26.10 Beta — Stonking Stingray

September 30, 2026 kubuntu.org

Key points

Kubuntu 26.10 "Stonking Stingray" is available as a beta, ahead of the final release planned for October 2026. It is a pre-release meant for testing: the team recommends it to enthusiasts, KDE and Qt developers and bug hunters, and tells anyone who needs a dependable daily system to stay on Kubuntu 26.04 for now.

What is in the beta

KDE Plasma 6.7, with the Plasma Wayland session as the default and fully supported session, as in 26.04.
The Plasma X11 session is not installed by default and is not supported by the Kubuntu team. The plasma-session-x11 package is still in the Ubuntu archive, and 26.10 will be the last Kubuntu release where that is possible.
Qt 6.11.2, KDE Frameworks 6.29.0 and KDE Gear applications 26.08.1.
Firefox 157, delivered as a Snap, and LibreOffice 26.8.0 in the full installation.
A release candidate of the Linux 7.3 kernel.

How to get it

Fresh install: bootable images are on the official beta image server, as direct download, torrent or zsync.
Upgrade from Kubuntu 26.04: run sudo software-properties-qt and set "Release Upgrade" to "Normal releases" (or set Prompt=normal in /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades), then run:

sudo do-release-upgrade -d

Known issue and testing

The Plasma Welcome Centre window pops up in the installer when "Install" is clicked. It can be closed and does not affect the installation.
Fixes land daily during the beta period, so the team asks testers to update fully before reporting. Installation results go to the Ubuntu Release Tracker; open bugs for Stonking Stingray are listed on Launchpad.
Changes to the underlying Ubuntu base are covered in the Stonking Stingray release notes.

Summary by DistroNews, based on the original post.

The Kubuntu team is proud to announce the Beta release of Kubuntu 26.10 — Stonking Stingray, stepping toward our October 2026 release. This is your chance to preview the next edition, put it through its paces, and help us deliver a polished final release. This is a pre-release. It is intended for testing, not production use. Systems may encounter instability. If you need reliability, stick with Kubuntu 26.04 for now. Who Should Try the Beta? Great for: Enthusiasts who want a first look at the next Kubuntu release Kubuntu, KDE, and Qt developers Bug hunters willing to report issues and help triage Not recommended for: Anyone who needs a stable, daily-driver system Production environments with critical data or workflows Users unfamiliar with pre-release quirks How to Get It Upgrade from Kubuntu 26.034 From a terminal, run: sudo software-properties-qt and under updates set ‘Release Upgrade’ to ‘Normal releases’. or; edit /etc/update-manager/release-upgrades to set ‘Prompt=normal’ then; sudo do-release-upgrade -d Fresh Install Download a bootable disk image from the official Beta image server. Direct download, torrent, and zsync options are available. What’s New in 26.10 Beta For changes to the underlying Ubuntu base, see the Stonking Stingray Release Notes. Below are highlights specific to Kubuntu. Plasma 6.7 The Kubuntu team has worked to ship the latest Qt6-based KDE desktop. Plasma 6.7 is the seventh feature release in the Plasma 6 series, building on the Plasma 6 megarelease that brought a modern, Wayland-first desktop to Ubuntu users. Read the full Plasma 6.7 announcement on the KDE blog. Wayland by Default As in 26.04, the Plasma Wayland session is the default and fully supported session in Kubuntu 26.10. For most users, Wayland delivers improved security, smoother rendering, and better HiDPI support compared to X11. X11 Session (Unsupported) The Plasma X11 session is not installed by default and is not supported by the Kubuntu team.

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