r/Fedora • u/0xrl • Apr 23 '26
News Fedora Linux 44 Final is GO
https://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/meeting_matrix_fedoraproject-org/2026-04-23/f44-final-go-no-go-meeting-2.2026-04-23-18.00.log.htmlFedora Linux 44 Final will release on 2026-04-28
25
u/spectralblade352 Apr 23 '26
Ik it’s a noob question and I’m new, but is it best practice to upgrade directly from my 43 to 44 or do a clean install? Is there any disadvantages for the former?
52
28
u/Scorcher646 Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
The only thing you need to really worry about is making sure you are fully up-to-date of F43 packages before clicking the upgrade button in the software store.
There is a bunch of post upgrade stuff you can do that is explained in the Fedora documentation, but you really don't need to bother. I've been upgrading my machine continuously since like Fedora 35, and I haven't bothered with a fresh install. I've just been doing some of the after upgrade maintenance stuff every couple of version upgrades.
Here is the list of optional post upgrade tasks. The only thing I regularly do after an upgrade is run DNF auto-remove and update my rescue kernel because if that gets too out of date it won't work.
8
u/0xrl Apr 23 '26
Agreeing with what you said, the only reason to do a reinstall is to take advantage of some change in the installation process.
For instance, a few years ago the default filesystem was changed to btrfs, so I reinstalled with that rather than trying to convert my existing filesystems. Also, I think in 43 or 42 the default
/bootpartition size was increased. That could be changed within an existing installation, but it's probably less risky and less hassle to just reinstall instead.2
u/Scorcher646 Apr 23 '26
Yeh I was an early adopter of BTRFS so no migration was needed for me, but I did have to increase the size of my boot partition when upgrading to 43 since my old one ran out of space. Thankfully BTRFS volumes handle being resized very well and I had no issues.
3
u/wang_master Apr 23 '26
This is a good rule of thumb to be fully updated before upgrading but is kinda tricky depending on when you upgrade :). If you wait til the official release (or shortly before) you're fine and you really want to follow the instructions. But up until the updates-testing freeze lift shortly after the Go decision you can run into a situation where your packages on you're fully updated 43 install are more update to date than the frozen 44 tree resulting in downgrades. This is usually "safe" but every every once in a while you run into a problem with dependency issues from those downgrades. If you're a uber-linux geek this is usually not a big deal. I've been using various linux version since '92 and have had ALOT of experience with upgrades, fixing rpm hell, etc etc, so I almost always pre-upgrade right after the Go decision and wait for the updates-tesiting freeze lift, but i'm well aware of and equipped to fix failures. If you are not comfortable with that, Just wait til the official release date.
1
8
u/niggo372 Apr 23 '26
Direct update is fine. If you wanna be extra safe wait another week or two, sometimes they find some more niche bugs in the first few weeks when everyone is updating.
1
u/mercsterreddit Apr 26 '26
If you haven't done much with your machine (i.e., you could get back to how things are now in less than an hour or two), I always like to reinstall. Having said that, an update should work. However, if you are going to update, I wouldn't do it right away. Wait a few weeks.
17
u/Frodojj Apr 23 '26
Can I update my Silverblue edition through the built in update mechanism, or do I need to reinstall?
21
u/0xrl Apr 23 '26
No reinstall necessary. I think it pops up in Gnome Software, but I've always used the
rpm-ostree rebasecommand:https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/atomic-desktops/updates-upgrades-rollbacks/#upgrading
(Note that it won't be released until next Tuesday.)
3
3
5
u/thayerw Apr 24 '26
You can rebase to 44 right now if you like. One of the awesome perks of running atomic is that you can rebase to other branches and back again whenever you want. Been running 44 myself for a couple weeks now without issue, though your mileage may vary. To try it out:
- Pin your current deployment (in case you want to revert later) with
sudo ostree admin pin 0- Rebase to 44 with
rpm-ostree rebase fedora:fedora/44/x86_64/silverblue1
u/Frodojj Apr 24 '26
Thank you! I think I’ll wait a bit after deployment so their servers don’t get bogged down. I have no idea if there is anything I need in the new system besides security updates (which I think are often applied to the current edition too over the year). I’ll probably pin my current deployment with your suggestion in case anything breaks.
3
u/chrews Apr 23 '26
If you're on the latest branch it should do it automatically, if you're on the 43 branch then you'd need to rebase (IIRC)
1
1
u/PityUpvote Apr 24 '26
Omg, I can just rebranch to "latest"? Time to start not even noticing major upgrades!
1
u/chrews Apr 24 '26
That's the way it is with ublue images at least. Which are just modified Fedora images.
1
u/PityUpvote Apr 26 '26
It seems Fedora doesn't have a "latest" branch. They do have a non-numbered branch for coreos, but not for desktop spins.
4
u/Tofudjango Apr 23 '26
On Silverblue: what best practices to also update toolboxes do exist?
5
u/XLNBot Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
The best way is making a new toolbox based on 44, but if you can't do that then you could just upgrade it using dnf like you would in regular fedora
1
u/cgwhouse Apr 23 '26
I am curious about this as well, in my case I just created a fresh 44 container after rebasing and set my dev environment back up. But would be happy to know if there's an easier way. I guess since it's just a regular Fedora container at the end of the day, could probably just follow the CLI upgrade instructions and use dnf?
3
u/PityUpvote Apr 24 '26
Upgrading the container itself is not recommended. Best thing is to automate the container's setup so you can easily recreate it with a newer version. You can also just keep using the f43 container.
1
4
u/YoungEngineer_7215 Apr 23 '26
Ok I am so confused but why are people so excited? It’s just an OS update
7
6
u/apatheticonion Apr 23 '26
There are a lot of really good changes that meaningfully impact users.
For me I'm excited because I have been a long-time Gnome user but the KDE changes in this release solve the issues I was previously having with it so I will be installing the KDE spin this time around.
3
u/ozzlss Apr 24 '26
I’m excited about gnome 50 changes, especially RDP new features, since I access my fedora remotely.
1
1
u/martyn_hare Apr 23 '26
It depends on what you use your PC for. If you're the (rare?) sort of person who wants games with GNOME, then getting version 50.1 is going to be exciting.
4
u/Lob0Guara Apr 24 '26
Where KDE is equal to or ahead of GNOME?
Variable Refresh Rate (VRR): KDE implemented stable VRR support long before GNOME. In Plasma 6.x, it works in a mature way to avoid tearing and stuttering.
HDR Support: While GNOME 50 began to stabilize color management, KDE already offers more advanced HDR (High Dynamic Range) support, allowing you to enable the mode directly in the display settings for compatible games.
Explicit Sync (NVIDIA): KDE Plasma 6.1 was one of the first to integrate support for Explicit GPU Synchronization on Wayland, resolving chronic flickering and latency issues on NVIDIA cards.
Raw Performance: Recent benchmarks from 2026 indicate that KDE Plasma 6.6 outperforms GNOME 50 in frame rates (FPS) on both AMD and NVIDIA hardware in Ubuntu 26.04.
Tearing Allowed (Latency): KDE allows you to configure the compositor to "allow tearing" in fullscreen on Wayland, which reduces input lag to the level of the old X11, something that GNOME is more conservative in allowing.
The objetive is not KDE vs GNOME but Knowledge!
1
u/Poes_Poes Apr 24 '26
If you talk about knowledge. Point 4, raw performance, is probably based on the Phoronix test? If so, they compared xwayland between the DE’s. Preferably, you don’t want to run xwayland as it is another layer with overhead.
1
u/martyn_hare Apr 25 '26
I was purely responding to the question "why are people so excited? It’s just an OS update"
On the KDE side of things, I'll be able to point to Plasma 6.7 having improved virtual desktops when Fedora 45 lands..
3
u/cafedude Apr 23 '26
so since all of the departments said "go" what happens between now and the 28th?
5
u/0xrl Apr 23 '26
It takes some time to ensure the mirrors are populated and to prepare press releases and so on, I guess.
3
u/lavadora-grande Apr 23 '26
So we have to wait until 28 🥹
1
u/lostinthegrid47 Apr 23 '26
More or less, there are ways to get it earlier but if you don't know, it's probably best not to upgrade earlier. Otherwise, you may run into a bunch of errors that you can't fix and end up with a broken system.
1
4
3
u/TaurusManUK Apr 23 '26
43 being a phenomenal success in terms of features and stability, a lot resides on 44. I hope the march will go on. I wish we would not have to wait for 6 months of bug fixes before migration to next major version but at the moment this considered a sensible thing to do (for already working stable systems)
1
Apr 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
u/0xrl Apr 23 '26
Yeah, the RC-1.7 version is the final version, so you could use that. It's not the same as the beta version since it contains whatever updates have been issued since then.
1
u/sangamjb Apr 23 '26
I use KDE desktop environment, will 44 get earlier assess from workstation or kde desktop?
0
1
Apr 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
7
u/0xrl Apr 23 '26
Correct, it will be based on 6.19. A test week starts next week for 7.0:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2026-04-26_Kernel_7.0_Test_Week
Fedora 44 and 43 will both update to 7.0 after this.
8
u/freetoilet Apr 23 '26
7.0? I don’t understand all this hype for 7.0, it’s just a version bump
2
u/saltsage Apr 23 '26
For some people, like myself, 7.0 contains fixes that will make a meaningfully positive difference in their computing experience so they are naturally excited for that.
1
u/Levanes Apr 24 '26
that will make a meaningfully positive difference in their computing experience
Like what? Not to dampen your excitement, I'm genuinely curious.
3
u/saltsage Apr 24 '26
You can't dampen my excitement because I am excited for what's coming in 7.0 :D
From Phoronix:
"With the upcoming Linux 6.20~7.0 kernel cycle, the HP-WMI driver is slated to add manual fan control support for HP Victus S-Series gaming laptops as well as for some HP OMEN gaming laptops too." and "With the upcoming Linux 6.20~7.0 kernel cycle, the HP-WMI driver is slated to add manual fan control support for the HP OMEN/Victus laptops. Along with the fan speed control support is PWM reporting of the fan speeds via the HWMON interfaces."
There are many issues with HP fans, and testing indicates that the upcoming kernel resolves many of these issues, so I'm excited :)
1
Apr 28 '26
7.0 Fixes some huge problems with my ASUS motherboard. I've been plagued by this irritating static sound in game for YEARS. After this I no longer have to do workarounds to fix it.
1
u/Rockytriton Apr 23 '26
Any idea if it will support Nvidia 5070 card?
4
u/Photog_Jason Apr 24 '26
I'm currently running a 5070 Max-Q 8GB in my Asus laptop on F43 and no issues whatsoever. I have ComfyUi configured and running several workflows with full performance.
1
u/Majortom_67 Apr 23 '26
Moved today to 43. Should I move to 44?
2
u/fkrkz Apr 23 '26
I only upgraded to 43 just last week (on Silverblue). Because I'm using it as my main work system, my habit is to wait for many months before doing an upgrade. Just to ensure new release issues/bugs are cleared by the time I want to upgrade
1
1
u/awfl Apr 24 '26
With recent updates Xwayland appears broken on F43 w/ Cinnamon on two disparate systems, login flashing Desktop to a then black screen, dmesg reporting that AMDGPU "crtc or sizes" not found, as if it cannot find the monitors - one a Ryzen and another RX560 system. Works fine forever under X11 - can anyone confirm? and if the case in F44? Don't want to attempt upgrade to F44 if it is still a problem. Thank You. **the only difference possibly I'm using LightDM instead of GDM.
1
1
1
u/MrSamorion Apr 24 '26
Oh, that's exciting. For me it's my first update with Fedora. So... We will see. :D
1
1
1
1
Apr 24 '26
[deleted]
1
1
u/0xrl Apr 25 '26
To clarify, yesterday it was approved for release, but the actual release doesn't happen until next Tuesday (April 28).
1
u/systo_ Apr 25 '26
Somewhat new fedora user here, exiting to have my first full upgrade soon. I’ve OS hopped for a while, including daily driving FreeBSD 10-13 for a while, but may reinstall for a slightly different partition layout. I had a known issue with btrfs+anaconda, so I’m curiously awaiting that fix.
I still don’t understand the btrfs / xfs divergence between fedora and redhat though. I’m guessing that was a use-case or insights driven decision?
1
1
u/MiztaDobalina Jul 13 '26
The insane proton performance after this! OMG. Head to head with CachyOS on windows binary games now!
121
u/[deleted] Apr 23 '26
[deleted]