14 DAY TRIAL // Canonical has announced the first point release of the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system, finally allowing users of Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS (Trusty Tahr) to upgrade their installations.
Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS has been introduced for desktop, server, and cloud, and it promises to offer users a collection of the software updates and security patches that have been pushed to Ubuntu 16.04 LTS users through the official channels during the past three months, since the April 21 release of Xenial Xerus.
As its name implies, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS is a long-term supported operating system, which means that it will get up to five point releases bringing up-to-date components and possibly some new features, during a period of five years, from 2016 until 2021. Of course, all the official flavors have been updated as well, but some will get only three years of support.
Among the official Ubuntu spins that have received refreshed ISO images as part of the Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS (Xenial Xerus) announcement, we can mention Kubuntu 16.04.1 LTS, Xubuntu 16.04.1 LTS, Lubuntu 16.04.1 LTS, Mythbuntu 16.04.1 LTS, Ubuntu Studio 16.04.1 LTS, Ubuntu MATE 16.04.1 LTS, Ubuntu GNOME 16.04.1 LTS, and Ubuntu Kylin 16.04.1 LTS. Some of them have separate announcements on our website.
"As usual, this point release includes many updates, and updated installation media has been provided so that fewer updates will need to be downloaded after installation. These include security updates and corrections for other high-impact bugs, with a focus on maintaining stability and compatibility with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS," says Canonical.
How to get Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS
Getting the latest Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS (Xenial Xerus) release is easy. As expected, Canonical has refreshed all the ISO images, so if you haven't yet upgraded your Ubuntu 14.04 LTS (Trusty Tahr) or Ubuntu 15.10 (Wily Werewolf) operating system, you can download the new ISOs for either 64-bit or 32-bit hardware architectures and upgrade by making sure you keep your files.
Of course, you can start fresh if you want, also by using the new Ubuntu 16.04.1 LTS ISO images published by Canonical, for any of the official Ubuntu flavors mentioned above. Still, the interesting part is that if you're using Ubuntu 14.04.4 LTS (Trusty Tahr) or a supported flavor, you'll be receiving an update notification, which means that it's finally safe to upgrade to Xenial Xerus.