In this question, I learned that Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS has moved to the 4.4.* kernel series. I installed Kubuntu 14.04.0 when it was fresh, and have been happily running on the 3.13.* series (currently at 3.13.0-96-generic) since -- and never have I been prompted to upgraded the kernel outside the 3.13.* series. My system reports the following version information:
$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID: Ubuntu
Description: Ubuntu 14.04.5 LTS
Release: 14.04
Codename: trusty
but my kernel version shows:
$ uname -a
Linux Kubuntu64 3.13.0-96-generic #143-Ubuntu SMP Mon Aug 29 20:15:20 UTC 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
The question I linked above is about Ubuntu, and I'm running Kubuntu, with the nVidia 352 driver (which shows as "recommended driver"). I use Synaptic instead of the default package installer, and have a root password set up (because when I came to Kubuntu I was used to using root to do certain things on Mepis 11), but I've made no other significant system changes.
So -- is this something I should try to correct (by manually upgrading to a 4.4.* series kernel metapackage), or something that makes little difference, or something I should avoid because of, say, nVidia drivers? FWIW, my Kubuntu 16.04.1 installation has 4.4.* kernel, and nVidia 361 drivers, but I still use my 14.04 for daily use, because I don't like some of the interface changes in Kubuntu 16.04.
My system is old -- Core2Quad CPU with a compatible motherboard, and though my OS lives on a SSD, that uses SATA, which is fairly old as well. The only reasonably up-to-date hardware I have is my video, a GTx750, but that's managed by the nVidia drivers, and shouldn't require an updated kernel.