The Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) development cycle hit a very important milestone today, the feature freeze.

The Ubuntu development cycle takes six months and it’s usually following the same lines. There are almost no delays and no major crises during the six months of development time, and we know that they are coming to a close when they reach the “feature freeze” milestone.

This particular step in the development cycle is not something that only happens in Ubuntu. In fact, it’s a milestone that’s used by many other projects, GNOME being one of them. It’s nothing too dramatic and it just means that developers are advised to finish with adding new features and focus more on bug fixes.

Getting closer to Xenial Xerus launch

Even if the project is now technical in “feature freeze,” it doesn’t mean that no new features are going to be added. Exceptions can be made, at least until the “final feature freeze.” Yes, that’s a milestone too.

“Don't fret if you have One Last Feature to get uploaded, and don't panic and upload it untested today just to try to beat the clock. We would rather see a feature freeze exception bug and a well-tested upload than something rushed to beat a deadline. That said, the vast majority of people should be winding down new feature development now and focusing on bug fixes and polish to make 16.04 yet another great release come April,” Canonical’s Adam Conrad explained.

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS has already received a large number of new features and we already covered most of them. Some more work needs to be done regarding the implementation of the new GNOME Software replacing Ubuntu Software Center, the support for ZFS, and much more.

In any case, Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) is scheduled for release on April 21, so there isn’t much time left.