Ubuntu project member Nathan Haines has just informed us about the initial availability of the default wallpapers for the upcoming Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system.

Nathan Haines has picked the winners of the Ubuntu Free Culture Showcase contest for Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and uploaded the wallpapers to the repositories of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS via the Launchpad website. So, congratulations to the winners!

It looks like there are a total of 12 wallpapers, which you can see in the image gallery attached at the end of the article. You can also download them for your Ubuntu 15.10 or Ubuntu 14.04 LTS desktop, or any other GNU/Linux distribution of your choice.

"My merge proposal with the Ubuntu community wallpapers have been accepted into the Ubuntu archive for 16.04. 10 photographs and 2 illustrations were selected this time around, just like the old days," said Nathan Haines.

In the order of appearance, the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS wallpapers are: Deux Two by Pierre Cante, Black hole by Marek Koteluk, Cielo estrellado by Eduardo Diez Viñuela, Dans ma bulle by Christophe Weibel, Flora by Marek Koteluk, and Icy Grass by Raymond Lavoie.

Continuing, you will see Night lights by Alberto Salvia Novella, Spring by Peter Apas, TCP118v1 by Tiziano Consonni, The Land of Edonias by Γιωργος Αργυροπουλος, Clock by Bernhard Hanakam, and Passion flower by Irene Gr. Check the gallery at the end to see them all!

Ubuntu 16.04 LTS launches on April 21

On this occasion, we would like to remind our readers that the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system will be unveiled in approximately two weeks from the moment of writing this article, on April 21, 2016.

It will be a long-term supported release that should receive maintenance builds from time to time, for about 5 years. The final versions of the default wallpapers will arrive soon for early adopters of the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS operating system.

Come back in two weeks, when we will tell you all there is to know about Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, as well as the rest of the official flavors, including Ubuntu MATE, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Lubuntu, Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu Studio, and others.

Cielo estrellado

Black hole

Passion flower