Canonical has published the third point release of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xernial Xerus). The new version brings an update to the existing Linux kernel and adds an improved graphics support.
Dubbed Ubuntu 16.04.3, the new platform is powered by Linux 4.10 kernel. The distribution also brings a borrowed graphics stack from the latest Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus) that is the Mesa 17.1.4 package. Canonical has included a hardware enablement stack in the platform in Ubuntu 16.04.3 is designed to enable the platform on newer hardware. Notably, the new release supports all the hardware architectures excepts 32-bit PowerPC.
The Mesa 17.0 graphic stack is well-optimised for both old and new hardware. It is directly borrowed from Ubuntu 17.04 (Zesty Zapus). Ubuntu by default installs a GA (general availability) kernel. However, you can choose HWE (hardware enablement) kernel from the installer bootloader.
“The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the release of Ubuntu 16.04.3 LTS for its desktop, server and cloud products as well as other flavours of Ubuntu with long-term support,” Canonical software engineer Adam Conrad writes in an official announcement.
Canonical has added KDE Plasma 5.5.5 and KDE applications 15.12 in Kubuntu 16.04.03 LTS. While the Lubuntu flavor gets refreshed hardware support, the GNOME flavor brings GNOME 3.18, snappy packages and rootless X.org server. Moreover, Canonical has pushed the update in all flavors of Ubuntu.
The new Ubuntu 16.04 LTS version will receive updates for next five years for Desktop, Server, Cloud, Base and Kylin variants. Existing users can perform a full upgrade using a command-line tool or Ubuntu Software manager.
