5 Less Popular Ubuntu 22.04 Features Jammy Jellyfish is Ubuntu 22.04, the long-term support version, and it was released on 21 April 2022. Until April 2027, the Ubuntu 22.04 will be supported until the long-term support period.
Linux kernel version 5.17 is used in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, with the 5.15 HWE rolling kernel being used for hardware that doesn’t support the newer kernel. Python and Ruby were updated to 3.10 and 3.0, respectively.
Basically what you are going to be working with is a mixture of GNOME 41 and 42 applications on a system 249.11 init system. There is no longer an alternate .deb package for the default web browser, Firefox, available in the release repositories and it is only available as a snap package.
There are two new Yaru themes available in this release: light and dark, but users can customize the accent colors with a choice of ten different options.
There have been positive reviews about Canonical’s latest LTS version of Ubuntu codenamed “Jammy Jellyfish” from users worldwide.
Ubuntu 22.04 Features – Five Unique Features
A lot of new features are included and there are a few lesser-known ones that did not get much attention. Nevertheless, let us take a look at some of the unique features that make Ubuntu 22.04 an epic release to date.
Specifically designed for data-driven solutions
Every business today relies on the analysis and processing of data for its success. This would require enormous computing power to do this effectively. The NVIDIA virtual GPU (vGPU) drivers are already included out of the box in Ubuntu 22.04 LTS.
In this way, you will be able to take advantage of the virtual GPU software from NVIDIA, which enables you to utilize the GPU computing power in virtual machines whose resources are shared between physical servers that are running GPUs.
In addition to that, if you rely on SQL Servers in your business, Ubuntu LTS for Azure provides SQL Server for Ubuntu, an operating system backed by “Microsoft”, allowing you to enjoy smooth performance and scalability.
Integration with Active Directory improved
The fact is that many corporations use Ubuntu on not only one laptop but multiple workstations for their employees. There is also the need for the deployment of workstation policies for monitoring and controlling access to workstations as well as securing various key infrastructure components.
As part of this release, further improvements have been made to Active Directory, which is used for the policy-based workstation administration (introduced in Ubuntu 20.04).
Additionally, this release also introduces the ADsys client, a tool that lets you access group policy administration remotely, perform privilege escalation via the command line, and run scripts remotely. The Advanced Group Policy Object in Active Directory has now been integrated with installers as part of this release’s features.
Realtime Kernel Support
In addition, Canonical announced during the launch of Ubuntu 22.04 Long Term Support (LTS) that they would be developing a real-time kernel option, which is now in beta. There is a need for a low-latency operating system for time-sensitive jobs in the telecom industry and other industries.
So, taking that in mind and with the vision of being able to penetrate these areas, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS aims to offer a real-time kernel that is pre-patched with the PREEMPT_RT patches as well. The software is available for both x86_64 and AArch64 architectures.
There is, however, a patch in the mainline kernel, but it has not yet been streamlined and ideally will be streamlined shortly.
Latest Apps, Packages, and Drivers
The release also contains a wide array of changes in packages and toolchains in addition to the above changes. This new release brings multiple kernel types for the Ubuntu desktop and hardware enablement, which will be combined as Kernel 5.17 for the Ubuntu desktop, while Kernel 5.15 will be used for hardware enablement.
Further, Ubuntu Server comes with a Kernel 5.15 that has been released with long-term support, while Ubuntu Cloud has the option of using a more optimized Kernel that has been developed in partnership with cloud providers.
Additionally, if you are an NVIDIA user, I believe you will find the Linux-restricted modules of NVIDIA drivers available on the ARM64 architecture now (as well as on the x86_64 architecture). To install and configure NVIDIA drivers, you can use the ubuntu-drivers program.
It is the core modules and subsystems of the operating system that make it work flawlessly. To ensure this release would work well for this great release, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS upgraded all of them to cater to it.
Performance Boost
Fortunately, some long-pending updates have been implemented, so you will be pleased that you will have a much better experience with Ubuntu 22.04 Jammy Jellyfish.
I’d like to start by saying that the long-pending Tripple buffering code for the GNOME desktop has finally landed.
In both Intel and Raspberry Pi drivers, the Tripple Buffering feature turns on automatically when the frame buffering lags behind, which results in a significantly faster desktop performance.
Besides the fact that the code is monitoring the last frame to prevent the system from being overloaded with buffering requests, it also monitors the system’s idle time.
A second improvement that will make laptop users’ lives easier is improved power management, which works at runtime for AMD and NVIDIA GPUs.
Wayland has also become the default display server for most systems except for hardware from NVIDIA that is set to an X11 display server by default. Using Wayland, your desktop will be much faster across a variety of applications, including web browsers.
Last but not least, GNOME 42’s customized features, like the combination of balanced power profiles along with timers and energy savers, provide a unique advantage to users who use their laptops heavily.
Aside from the new accent color and the new light/dark look, this epic Ubuntu 22.04 LTS release also includes a port of some selected GNOME modules to GTK4/libadwaita.
Read More: Upgrade Ubuntu 20.04 to 22.04 LTS [Super Simple Guide]
Conclusion
In terms of all the changes in the OS under the hood, and many other changes, this is right up there with the best LTS releases Canonical has ever shipped. And there are other upgrades too that are quite helpful for any beginner user. But Hopefully, it will be well received and remain stable in the days to come.
