After eight Release Candidates and lots of development work, Linux kernel 4.8 has been released by Linus Torvalds. The latest kernel release brings better support for lots of hardware and components. This release also marks the opening of the merge window for 4.9 kernel, which will be the next LTS kernel branch.
As planned, Linux creator Linus Torvalds has officially released the Linux 4.8 kernel after the eight Release Candidate. This means that you can visit the Linux kernel website and download the latest version. Interestingly, Linus codenamed 4.8.0 kernel as “Psychotic Stoned Sheep.”
10 Best features of Linux Kernel 4.8
The release announcement summarizes the notable changes since the rc8 as a mix of arch fixes, drivers, and generic code. Below is the list of the best features of the Linux 4.8 kernel release:
- AMDGPU OverDrive support for overclocking AMD graphic cards
- NVIDIA Pascal support, which includes only initial support
- Raspberry Pi 3 SoC supported by mainline kernel
- ACPI Low-Power Idle support
- HDMI CEC support after years of development
- Btrfs ENOSPC improvement
- Hardened usercopy protection
- ASLR for kernel memory sections
- Microsoft Surface 3 touch support
- Intel Virtual Button driver for Skylake laptops
Users can download the latest Linux 4.8 kernel from the kernel.org website. Read the release announcement here
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