With Ubuntu 25.10 “Questing Quokka,” we are taking a significant step forward in the evolution of the Ubuntu Desktop by removing the Xorg-based Ubuntu session. Starting with this release the “Ubuntu” session in GDM will run exclusively on Wayland. This decision follows upstream GNOME’s roadmap and aligns with our long-term strategy of delivering a secure, performant, and modern desktop experience. Why We’re Making This Change Over the past several cycles, the Wayland experience has matured sig...
You can check if you are using Xorg or Wayland in the Settings -> System -> About -> System Details page. If you’re using Wayland, you’re all good, nothing changes. If you’re using Xorg, you may notice some changes. If you’re using NVIDIA on Ubuntu 24.04, you’ll be on Xorg by default. If you’re using a later version or AMD/Intel, you’ll be on Wayland be default.
To keep it short, X11 was the old protocol for creating and managing windows. Xorg implemented this protocol. But both the protocol and implementation have many shortcomings that are difficult to address for a multitude of reasons (breaking compatibility, poor code base, a ton of work, etc).
Rather than putting lipstick on a pig, a new protocol, called Wayland, was created. It was designed for modern needs and tries to avoid the pitfalls that X11, Windows, and MacOS have. It doesn’t just copy what those three did, it’s more opinionated, so some people love it a lot (like me) or hate it a lot because it changes the way things have to be done and simply does not implement some functionality, either purposefully or because the work hasn’t been done yet.