In a move clearly aimed at attracting companies that are going to be orphaned from Windows 10 support, Canonical has been supporting LTS versions of Ubuntu for 12 years.
This is not an automatic extension, since To reach 10 years you must subscribe to the Ubuntu PRO service (Free for up to 5 computers) and contract an additional subscription for the remaining two years.
Canonical brings Ubuntu LTS support to 12 years
According to met Yesterday, Canonical announced the general availability of an Ubuntu Pro add-on known as Legacy Support. Legacy Support extends security and support coverage to 12 years from the existing Ubuntu 14.04.
As we said at the beginning, Ubuntu versions with long-term support are guaranteed five years of standard security maintenance in the main Ubuntu repository. For Ubuntu Pro subscribers, the total is brought to 10 years and extends coverage to the universe repository.
In addition to updates, Ubuntu Pro includes support from Canonical staff through tickets and phone calls.
Maximilian Morgan, Global Vice President of Support Engineering at Canonical, explained the reasons for the launch:
We are pleased to offer our customers additional years of security maintenance and support for Ubuntu LTS releases. Continuing 20 years of open source excellence, Canonical provides expert security maintenance and support to customers around the world. With Legacy Support, we empower organizations to navigate their operational needs and open source investments with confidence, ensuring their systems remain available, secure, and supported for many years to come.
The release occurs a few days before the end of coverage for Ubuntu 14.04, which expired in April of this year. By contracting Legacy Support, corporate users will get two years of extended security maintenance in addition to telephone and ticket support.
Ubuntu 14.04 Trusty Tahr was originally released on April 17, 2014 and came with the following features:
- Linux kernel 3.13
- Unity 7 desktop.
Not for home users
Most home users do not leave the Ubuntu version installed beyond the standard 5 years. In fact, it doesn't even last 4 months for me since I usually install the development versions as soon as they are usable. However, organizations need stability and cannot expose themselves to the risks of seeing the execution of their systems interrupted by errors or security problems.
One point to keep in mind is that Windows 10, the most used desktop operating system, will end support in October next year and most computers do not meet the specifications of Windows 11.
A study known when Windows 11 was launched, revealed that half of the business workstations surveyed did not meet the hardware requirements required by Microsoft to run the most current version of its operating system. And, the requirements are not loosened with the next Windows 12.
Windows 11 can no longer run on computers manufactured before 2019, including hardware that no one would call obsolete such as the seventh-generation Intel Core CPUs or the first-generation AMD Zen CPUs.
As estimated at that time, only 44,4% of computers meet the CPU requirements of Windows 11 and only 52,5% meet the Trusted Platform Module 2.0 requirement. Things improve with RAM (91,05%)
According to the Microsoft website, the hardware requirements for Windows 11 require at least 4 GB of memory and 64 GB of storage; You must have UEFI secure boot enabled and have a graphics card compatible with DirectX 12 or later, with a WDDM 2.0 driver. The latest requirement is Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0.
According to the latest available data, things do not seem to have improved in the post-pandemic years. Therefore, Canonical's decision can give a great boost to the use of operating systems and free software in the institutional field.