Enjoy the latest version of Lubuntu (21.10) until the next LTS release set to launch on April 2022
What’s new in Lubuntu 21.10:
- You can find the following major applications and toolkits installed by default in this release:
- LXQt 0.17.0 – with many improvements over 0.16, you can go here for more information.
- LXQt Archiver 0.4.0 which is based on Engrampa, is now included.
- Qt 5.15.2
Lubuntu 21.10 is the 21st release of Lubuntu, and the seventh one to feature the lightweight desktop environment LXQt. It’s also the last release (interim release) before the next LTS is going to launch in April 2022.
21.10 will be supported for only nine months, until July 2022, and it benefits from a series of changes, including all the core changes from Ubuntu 21.10.
Nothing major, only small changes
21.10 doesn’t bring major changes to Lubuntu. One of the most important changes is the introduction of the new LXQt 0.17.0. It comes with various improvements over 0.16 which can be found here.
The LXQt Archiver 0.4.0 is now based on Engrampa. This latest version of Lubuntu also uses Qt 5.15.2.
Other apps have been updated as well. For example, Mozilla Firefox is not shipped as a Debian Package with version 93.0. VLC is shipped with version 3.0.16, Featherpad 0.17.1, and Discover Software Center 5.225.
How to install or upgrade Lubuntu to 21.10
It’s important to note that this version of Lubuntu uses the Calamares installer instead of the Ubiquity installer like most Ubuntu flavors. Calamares has also received an update to version 3.2.41.1.
If you’re upgrading from a Lubuntu version that uses LXQt, then you should know that this new version uses a different Openbox settings configuration file. Hence, if you have customized ~/.config/openbox/lxqt-rc.xml, you should copy the file to ~/.config/openbox/rc.xml. Please note that fresh installation are not affected by this small change.
Verdict
Even though 21.10 is not exactly impressive from a change standpoint, it paves the way for the future LTS version of Lubuntu. It brings a few upgrades to some default apps, including some big updates to LXQt and Qt.
