Canonical released Ubuntu 26.10 today, adding optional speech recognition through Myna and completing its move to Rust-based uutils coreutils. The interim release, codenamed Stonking Stingray, is available now for download and installation. It also includes Linux kernel 7.3 and changes to package verification, disk encryption and authentication for organizations using Microsoft Entra ID.
Myna processes speech using local models, with visual indicators intended to help users follow recognition as they talk. Canonical describes that approach as protecting privacy and positions accessibility as the starting point for its AI work on Ubuntu. Myna requires users to opt in for Ubuntu 26.10, while Canonical plans to make it a default inclusion as Ubuntu 28.04 LTS approaches.
Read more: Canonical Opens Myna Preview for Local Speech-to-Text on Ubuntu
For desktop users, GNOME 51 brings changes to display handling, accessibility and core applications, according to Canonical. The Ubuntu App Center also changes how it manages snaps and debs, while improved Flutter application support helps assistive software such as Orca interpret application content. Canonical has switched the default D-Bus implementation to dbus-broker, which accounts for messages separately for each application to prevent one application from stalling the desktop.
On security, Sequoia PGP takes over from GnuPG when APT checks repository signatures, introducing support for post-quantum package signing. TPM-backed full-disk encryption now covers hardware without a Hardware Root of Trust, and users can require a passphrase or PIN. Microsoft identity integration supports passwordless authentication as well as passwords combined with Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA).
Hardware changes include RISC-V desktop images with support for the SpacemiT K3, which implements RVA23. Canonical also says a dedicated installer for amd64v3 hardware will be offered. Kernel 7.3 adds support for newer hardware including AMD Zen 6 and provides Lustre support for distributing large data transfers across thousands of corporate nodes.
For developers running AI workloads, Ubuntu 26.10 moves to ROCm 10.0, adding GPU architecture support and support for serving frameworks including SGLang and vLLM. Spring AI reaches Ubuntu Desktop through the devpack for Spring, while the release also coincides with the devpack for Rust, which provides version management and IDE support.
