Ubuntu 26.10 to Include Ubuntu Certified Hardware Check
If you've ever wondered if your laptop or PC is officially certified to run Ubuntu, that curiosity will soon be met.
Starting with Ubuntu 26.10 (Stonking Stingray), there will be a new feature in Settings | System that allows you to find out if your hardware is certified to run the Ubuntu OS.
When you click the button to verify your hardware, it runs the com.ubuntu.hwctl service. You can also run the command hwlib (available starting in 26.10), which will return the same results (only in the terminal instead of a GUI).
There are six different statuses that can be returned: Ubuntu certified, certified for a different Ubuntu version, not certified but similar to a model that is, not certified, unable to check, and status unknown.
I have an instance of the daily release of Ubuntu 26.10, and the feature has yet to appear, but according to OMG Ubuntu, the certified hardware check is coming. The site also indicates that there will be an option to enable regular checks, which will send your hardware details to Canonical to check on your certification status. Apparently, the change will appear in gnome-control-center 1:51~alpha-0ubuntu2. After running an upgrade to the daily installation, it broke the desktop (part of the fun with running a daily release), so I'll have to re-install Stonking Stingray again to see if I can finally test the feature.
The stable release of Ubuntu 26.10 is due in October, so there's plenty of time for the feature to solidify and for you to run out and purchase a Ubuntu-certified laptop or desktop.
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