Ubuntu Desktop for developers

Whether you're a mobile app developer, an engineering manager, a music or video editor or a financial analyst with large-scale models to run — in fact, anyone in need of a powerful machine for your work — Ubuntu is the ideal platform.

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Why use Ubuntu for development?

  • The fastest route from development to deployment on desktop, mobile, fun88体育 or cloud
  • The broadest and best development tools and libraries
  • All the most popular productivity apps such as Slack, Skype, Telegram and Discord, available in the snap store
  • Official snaps for Visual Studio Code and the JetBrains suite of IDEs
  • Hassle free gaming and AI development with nVIDIA GPUs supported out the box
  • Certified AI and developer laptops and workstations available from Dell, Lenovo and HP — get a seamless, pre-installed Ubuntu experience
  • Lightweight; run natively or in a VM
  • Ideal for any resource-intensive environment, from data mining to large-scale financial modelling

Source: Eclipse Community survey, 2014, Stackoverflow annual survey 2016

* This graph excludes non-Linux OSs

With Ubuntu, you're in good company

Ubuntu is used by thousands of development teams around the world because of its versatility, reliability, constantly updated features, and extensive developer libraries.

If you're managing developers, Ubuntu is the best way to increase your team's productivity and guarantee a smooth transition from development all the way to production. Ubuntu is the world's most popular open source OS for both development and deployment, from the data centre to the cloud to the Internet of Things.

Learn more about Ubuntu's cloud offering ›

What's new in Ubuntu 21.04?

  • Linux 5.11 kernel
  • Redesigned Yaru dark GNOME shell theme is the default
  • New MIME type icons in the Yaru theme
  • Wayland is the default display fun88体育 with improved security and performance
  • Active directory integration is included in the installer
  • Improved UI with new power profile modes
  • Recovery key option for encrypted installs
  • Private home directory
  • LibreOffice 7.1.2, Python 3.9, Firefox 87, GNOME Desktop 3.38.5

Read the full release notes ›

What's new in Ubuntu 20.04 LTS?

Ubuntu 20.04 is the latest LTS release. Alongside support for the very latest hardware, this release includes new versions of many core apps and developer technologies.

  • Linux 5.4 kernel
  • The fastest and most responsive GNOME Desktop, running v3.36 by default
  • A new default theme, Yaru, gives Ubuntu a fresh new look
  • Improved settings for WiFi, wallpaper and application groups in the Activities overview
  • Change between a light or dark environment directly from system settings
  • Support for ZFS as your root filesystem as well as zsys, with system snapshots, rolling backwards and forwards between snapshots and automated snapshots
  • Latest versions of the popular browsers
  • LibreOffice 6.4
  • nVIDIA hardware is now supported out of the box

Read the full release notes

All the tools developers need

Whether your team uses Python, Ruby, Node.js or Java, no operating system is easier to set up than Ubuntu. Everything your developers need is just a snap or an apt away.

Want to get your app published for Ubuntu? Snapcraft can help you reach all users of current Ubuntu versions and other popular distributions.

We want to be able to deliver the same high-quality experience on Linux as we do on other platforms. Snaps allow us to do just that, by giving us the ability to push the latest features straight to our users, no matter what device or distribution they happen to use.

Jonáš Tajrych, Senior Software Engineer at Skype at Microsoft

Package, distribute, and update apps with Snapcraft

Snaps are applications packaged with all their dependencies to run on all popular Linux distributions from a single build. They update automatically and roll back gracefully. Whether you're building for desktop, cloud, or the Internet of Things, publishing as a snap will keep users up to date and make system configuration issues less likely, freeing you to code more and debug less.

Snapcraft, the open source tool to publish snaps, picks up from your existing build artefacts or language of choice, be it Python, Go, C/C++, Node.js, or even .NET. With 20 minutes you can have your first app built and released in the Snap Store.

Get started with Snaps

The easiest way to build and publish a snap is with snapcraft,
which supports building from source and from existing packages.

By developers, for developers

Ubuntu is the result of contributions by thousands of developers, motivated by the desire to create their own perfect developer environment. That's why it's used by some of the world's most exciting technology companies and it's why Valve decided to port its hugely popular Steam virtual games store to Ubuntu. Ubuntu runs on architectures from x86 to ARM and on cloud platforms from OpenStack to Azure and EC2. This versatility makes it the ideal choice for companies with a diverse hardware infrastructure.

See all Ubuntu certified PCs

Ubuntu has been the perfect OS given its popularity with developers and its cloud capabilities. That's why it's preloaded on the 4th generation of our XPS 13 laptop and our new Precision M3800 Mobile Workstation.

Barton George, Director of developer programs at Dell services

Learn more about Dell's developer edition line

Deployment made easy

When it comes to speed and simplicity of deployment, nothing touches Ubuntu.

Taking a service developed on the desktop and running it on a fun88体育 or in the cloud just works. Ubuntu also has developed Juju, a service orchestration tool, that simplifies the often-cumbersome handover between development and ops teams — and it speeds the process up dramatically.

Support tailored to developers' needs

With Ubuntu Advantage and Landscape, you can standardise your developer workstations. It helps you manage updates, security patches, and reporting, while minimising downtime. Give your developers the freedom they want while retaining the control you need.

Learn more about Ubuntu Advantage ›