Manjaro 26.1, codenamed “Bian-May,” has reached the Stable branch, the distribution’s first tagged release since 26.0 landed in January. The Stable update touches more than 1,000 packages and, most importantly for existing users, moves the default kernel to Linux 7.1 now that the 7.0 series has officially reached end of life.

Kernel lineup

Linux 7.1 becomes the default, with 6.18 LTS and 6.12 LTS remaining available through Manjaro’s kernel manager for users who prefer a longterm branch. The 7.0-to-7.1 move isn’t optional housekeeping: with 7.0 EOL upstream, staying on it means no more security fixes, so Manjaro users who pinned it should switch branches with mhwd-kernel sooner rather than later.

# List installed and available kernels
mhwd-kernel -li

# Install Linux 7.1 alongside your current kernel
sudo mhwd-kernel -i linux71

Desktop editions

The KDE edition ships Plasma 6.7.4, the GNOME edition moves to the GNOME 50 “Tokyo” series first released in March, and the Xfce edition carries 4.20 for lighter hardware. Package refreshes across the branch include GStreamer 1.28.6, Syncthing 2.1, and the move to Python 3.14, the kind of under-the-hood update that occasionally trips up Python tooling installed outside the package manager, so AUR Python packages may need rebuilding.

No reinstall needed

As always with Manjaro’s rolling model, “26.1” is a snapshot label rather than an upgrade event: existing Stable-branch users get the Bian-May package state through a normal full system update, while the fresh 26.1 ISOs matter mainly for new installations.

# Bring an existing install up to the 26.1 package state
sudo pacman -Syu

The bigger picture

Manjaro’s cadence of tagged snapshots roughly twice a year has settled into a predictable rhythm that suits its position as the more guardrail-equipped alternative to vanilla Arch: the same rolling package base, but staged through Manjaro’s own testing branches before reaching Stable. For users weighing the two, 26.1 is a representative example of the tradeoff, Arch shipped kernel 7.1 weeks earlier, and Manjaro shipped it after its staging delay with this coordinated, tested batch.