Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark): Release schedule and new features

As we said last week, Ubuntu 17.10 will be called Artful aardvark and it will arrive with a multitude of new functions in the month of October of this year.

Also, in the Ubuntu Wiki we can now find the full release schedule for Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark), along with some of the main novelties of the next version of the operating system.

Ubuntu 17.10 release schedule

Below we list the maintenance versions (Alpha and Beta) that the new Ubuntu 17.10 will have, as well as their release dates along with the arrival date of the final version.

• Ubuntu 17.10 Alpha 1 - June 29
• Ubuntu 17.10 Alpha 2 - July 27
• Feature Freeze, Debian Import Freeze - Aug 24
• Ubuntu 17.10 Beta 1 - August 31
• Ubuntu 17.10 Final Beta - September 28
• Kernel Freeze - October 5
• Final Freeze [Release Candidate] - October 12
• Ubuntu 17.10 [Thin Release] - October 19

For those of you who don't know, Ubuntu follows a time-based cycle, and not in the new functions. This means that the new versions are scheduled to arrive on certain dates and the development process is carried out based on these dates.

New Features in Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark)

It's too early to talk about the final list of features coming with Ubuntu 17.10 Artful Aardvark for now, but we still have an idea about the biggest changes.

• GNOME will be the default desktop (probably GNOME 3.26)
• Ubuntu GNOME will no longer be a separate distribution
• Wayland will be the default graphics server
• Optional X.org Server session
• Table 17.2 or Table 17.3
• Linux kernel 4.13 or Linux Kernel 4.14
• Mozilla Thunderbird may no longer be the default email client
• Improved hardware support
• New Ubuntu Server Installer

Another thing to note is that probably all users should expect Ubuntu to ship with the default GNOME desktop environment starting with Ubuntu 17.10's second Alpha.

Ubuntu 17.10 release date

The final beta or second beta of Ubuntu 17.10 is scheduled to appear on September 28, and it looks like the final version of Ubuntu 17.10 (Artful Aardvark), which will probably feature the GNOME 3.26 desktop by default (due out September 13), will officially debut next October 19, 2017.

The release schedule also tells us that Ubuntu 17.10 development started on April 20, so the first ISO images should appear online in the next few days.

Source: Free Wiki