Ubuntu 26.04 is releasing today. It is natural to have questions about a new release, specially for beginners.I have tried to answer those frequently asked questions about Ubuntu 26.04 here. I hope it helps clear your doubts if you had any. And if you still have questions, feel free to ask in the comment section below.What are the system requirements for Ubuntu 26.04?Ubuntu 26.04 requires a 2 GHz dual core processor or better, a minimum of 6 GB RAM and at least 25 GB of free disk space. These stats for the default GNOME version. KDE and Xfce flavors may work with 4 GB RAM. If you are dual booting it with Windows, you should at least give it 50 GB or even 100 GB. 25 GB will be filled way too soon.How long will Ubuntu 26.04 be supported?It is a long-term support (LTS) release and like any LTS release, it will be supported for five years. Which means that Ubuntu 26.04 will get security and maintenance updates until April 2031. Flavors get supported for three years only.You can enable Ubuntu Pro, free for personal use, and get extended support for five more years. This will give you just security and maintenance updates; new features and software versions will mostly not be available.There is also the option for legacy add-on for Ubuntu Pro that will add five more years to extend the life. These extensions are suitable for people who do not seek new features as much and happy to have a computer that works for most of their day to day need of browsing internet, manage photos and document etc.There are other options in "Ubuntu 26.04"?Ubuntu has various flavors based on the desktop environments they provide. Kubuntu is with KDE, Lubuntu is with LXQt, Xubuntu is with Xfce desktop. I hope you are familiar with the concept of desktop environments. This is what determines how your Linux system looks by default.Where can I download Ubuntu 26.04?You can get the ISO image of Ubuntu 26.04 GNOME from its website. You have both direct download and torrent options. Other official flavors will be available on their official websites.Note: if you don't see the option to download Ubuntu 26.04, you can get it from the daily build page.Can I download Ubuntu 26.04 via torrent?Yes. you can. If you have an inconsistent or slow internet, you can download Ubuntu ISO image via torrent as well. Just go to the Ubuntu download page and look for alternative downloads. Scroll down a bit and you’ll see the torrent options.How can I install Ubuntu 26.04?Just like any other version. You download the ISO, make a live USB and use it to install Ubuntu on your system. You can dual boot it as well. The detailed steps are demonstrated in our Ubuntu installation guide.Can I install KDE or some other desktop environment on Ubuntu 26.04?Yes, you can. Linux gives you the flexibility to install the desktop environment of your choice. However, I recommend that if you have a fresh Ubuntu install where you don't have important data, it is better to install the official flavor instead. This is because some times, desktop environment elements conflict with each other. So if you want KDE, go for Kubuntu.I am already using Ubuntu. Can I upgrade to Ubuntu 26.04?Yes. Ubuntu allows you to upgrade from one version to the next or one long-term support (LTS) version to next. If you are already using Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or 25.10, you will have the option to upgrade to Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. If you are using Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, you'll have to upgrade to 24.04 LTS first and then upgrade to 26.04. Please check your Ubuntu version. If you are using any version other than 22.04, 24.04 or 25.10, chances are that it has reached end of life. A fresh install will make more sense. Why don't I see the upgrade to 26.04 option?A new Ubuntu release is gradually rolled out to users. You'll see it eventually, just keep your system upgraded.If you cannot wait, you can force update manager to look for "development release" and that should give you the option to upgrade to 26.04 immediately.Should I wait or upgrade to Ubuntu 26.04 right away?In my experience, a new Ubuntu release often brings up bugs and issues that have gone unnoticed in the testing phase. If you easily get annoyed and don't want to troubleshoot, I would advise upgrading for a few week from the release. If you want to take it even more slow and comfortable, you can wait till the first point release of Ubuntu 26.04.1. Most of the discovered bugs are fixed by then. Do I need to back up before upgrade?Upgrading from existing Ubuntu version to new version is generally safe. In my 17 years of Ubuntu usage, I have never experienced a broken system while upgrading it.That said, it is not impossible to encounter issues. It's rare but rare events do happen. So, if you have important data, make a backup with timeshift or simply copy the data on an external disk. Before upgrading, if these things have not been backed up, I copy most of the contents from the home directory to my SanDisk external SSD (partner Amazon link) shown in the picture below. SSD with USB 3 or Thunderbolt have very good copying speed.SanDIsk external SSD (Amazon link)Should I upgrade to 26.04 or do a fresh install?That is up to your technical abilities and convenience. Personally, I feel that a fresh install works better, specially if you have been upgrading to newer versions for the past several versions. Still try the upgrade first and if you feel it is sluggish, you can go for a fresh install. Remember that you'll lose your data on the disk if you go for a fresh install. So, please make a backup of your important data on an external disk.If I upgrade to Ubuntu 26.04 can I downgrade to 25.10 or 24.04?No, you cannot. While upgrading to the newer version is easy, there is no option to downgrade. If you want to go back to Ubuntu 24.04 or 25.10, you’ll have to do a fresh install of the desired version.Should I be concerned about Wayland only Ubuntu 26.04?That is really up to you. If you are using a software that is important to your workflow and that software does not support Wayland, then you will have issues. While it is still possible to install the legacy Xorg display server on KDE, GNOME 50 has completely removed Xorg support. As far as I know, you cannot use Xorg on GNOME 50 or higher anymore.So, please check which applications are essential for your workflow and then check from their website or forum to verify if they support Wayland or not. Make a decision accordingly if you have to keep on using 24.04 or switch to 26.04.How do I know if Ubuntu 26.04 supports all my wifi and printer drivers?While a newer version brings newer kernel that supports more hardware, it is not unheard to encounter wifi connectivity issues. More questions?I have tried to answer the common doubts an Ubuntu beginner usually have about a new release. This is coming from seventeen years of using Ubuntu and fourteen years of running this website. But then I am not a beginner anymore and I may not be able to think of all the questions a new Ubuntu user might have. So, if you still have doubts, please ask them in the comments and I'll try to help you out.