Ubuntu 21.04 due today with native Active Directory integration

[mood]

Ubuntu 21.04 due today with native Active Directory integration

 

 

Canonical has announced the availability of Ubuntu 21.04, it includes native Microsoft Active Directory integration, a Flutter application development SDK, and Wayland switched on by default replacing the X Window System which is now 36 years old. Ubuntu 21.04 comes with the Linux 5.11 kernel meaning newer hardware is supported but Canonical decided not to include the latest GNOME 40 just yet.

Commenting on today’s launch, Canonical CEO Mark Shuttleworth said:

 

“Native Active Directory integration and certified Microsoft SQL Server on Ubuntu are top priorities for our enterprise customers. For developers and innovators, Ubuntu 21.04 delivers Wayland and Flutter for smoother graphics and clean, beautiful, design-led cross-platform development.”

 

With native Active Directory support, Ubuntu 21.04 allows Active Directory administrators to configure Ubuntu system settings from an Active Directory domain controller. Using a Group Policy Client, admins can control various security policies on connected clients including password policies, user access control, and desktop environment settings.

 

One of the biggest changes in this update is the switch to Wayland. Canonical says that Wayland offers better security and that programs like Firefox, OBS Studio and many other applications built with Electron and Flutter leverage Wayland automatically for smoother graphics and improved fractional scaling. By switching to Wayland now, Canonical can work out any issues by the time of the next long-term support Ubuntu release.

 

Other changes in this update include an improved dark version of the Yaru theme and an option in the system settings to change the power profile mode of the system so you can reduce the energy consumption.

 

 

As Ubuntu 21.04 doesn’t have long-term support, it will only receive updates until January 2022, so be sure that you’re happy to upgrade to Ubuntu 21.10 later in the year. While Ubuntu 21.04 is a stable release, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS may be a better option if you’re not looking to perform major upgrades because it will receive security updates until 2025.

 

Ubuntu 21.04 should be available from the downloads page today but if you already use Ubuntu and want to upgrade go to the Software & Updates app, go to the Updates tab and select ‘For any new version’ on the ‘Notify me of a new Ubuntu version’ section. You will be prompted to enter your password, now open the Software Updater and you should see the option to upgrade to Ubuntu 21.04 as soon as it's available.

 

 

Source: Ubuntu 21.04 due today with native Active Directory integration

[mood]

Ubuntu 21.04 is now available with native Microsoft Active Directory integration and Wayland as the default

 

Canonical released Ubuntu 21.04, a new version of the organization's Linux distribution. The release comes three weeks after the release of beta versions, and can already be downloaded from the official Ubuntu website as desktop, server and cloud versions.

 

Updates from Ubuntu 20.10 are not enabled at this point as some systems may end up in an unbootable state if EFI version 1.10 is used. Upgrades will be enabled in the future "once an updated version of shim is available 2hich is compatible with EFI version 1.10".

 

Ubuntu 21.04 is a short-term release, which means that it is good for 9 months of updates before it is running out off support. The latest long-term servicing release is Ubuntu 20.04 LTS.

 

The release is powered by Linux 5.11 kernel and GNOME 3.38, and the first that makes Wayland the default on the system, provided that the computer's hardware supports it.

 

Many applications, Firefox for example, will benefit from Wayland, and users may notice improved graphics performance on their devices after installing Ubuntu 21.04 or upgrading to the new version.

 

The release does not come with the newer GNOME 4.0, which was launched recently

 

 

The new Ubuntu release comes with Flutter SDK snap build integration and a new dark theme that promises "accessibility improvements in navigation, and new file icons".

 

Ubuntu 21.04 features native Active Directory integration. Machines running the Linux distribution can join Active Directory (AD) domains "at installation for central configuration. Active Directory admins can manage Ubuntu devices and configure system settings from an Active Directory domain controller.

 

Using a Group Policy Client, system administrators can specify security policies on all connected clients, such as password policies and user access control, and Desktop environment settings, such as login screen, background and favourite apps.

 

Microsoft and Canonical announced improved support for Microsoft SQL Server on Ubuntu: "Enterprise performance and scalability work from this release have been backported to Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS, in support of Microsoft SQL Server".

 

Optimized Ubuntu images on Azure are now available with the database management system (DBMS) and command-line interface (CLI) " providing a production-grade, highly available database platform with ten years of security maintenance".

 

The integration includes performance enhancements, supports persistent memory without additional configuration requirements, and highly available.

Other improvements in Ubuntu 21.04

• Support for smartcard authentication added.
• Desktop View "handles drag & drop operations" properly.
• Power Profile can be changed from the settings.
• Pipewire support enabled by default.
• Installer includes new option to create a recovery key to decrypt encrypted disks if the password is lost.
• Several applications were updated to their GNOME 4.0 versions, e.g. Firefox, LibreOffice or Thunderbird.
• Ubuntu Server gets Rails 6 support.

You can check out Canonical's announcement of Ubuntu 21.04 on the official company blog or the official release notes, published on Ubuntu's Discource forum.

 

 

Source: Ubuntu 21.04 is now available with native Microsoft Active Directory integration and Wayland as the default

[BimBamSmash]

IT will never be the same after today. :-P

 

Part of me thinks movements like this are merely followups to Ballmer's branding of Linux as "a cancer". Except Stevo was all talks and no action (which gave MS a pretty bad face at the time), but Satya sings praise of and vows support for open source in the public and yet creeps in from the shadows to devour the ecosyste. I love his style!