The new Linux kernel 4.8 is ready

After several months of waiting until its final release, it was Linus Torvalds himself who had the pleasure of announcing that the new Linux kernel 4.8 it is already developed. Until reaching this final version of it, numerous candidate versions have passed (up to eight different ones) in which the strong impulse that the support of the most modern hardware has had stands out.

And what can we expect from this new kernel. Well as always a better hardware, software and patch support for the system. Being more specific, we can talk about the initial support for Nvidia Pascal or ARM Mali graphics cards, support for the Raspberry Pi 3 SoC, improvements in file systems such as Btrfs, XFS or EXT4 or the official support for touch technology from Microsoft's Surface 3. And so a sifín of new improvements for this so important part of the operating system. We tell you more.

The launch of the new Linux kernel 4.8 was taking long to wait but, finally, it is now a reality. With each new version there is a series of novelties that are worth highlighting, among the many that are produced. This time it is users with graphics Nvidia and AMD the most benefited. The first because it supposes the first version with support for the new Pascal charts from Nvidia (except for GeForce GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 models until their signed firmware is released) and the latter, because The free driver arrives that finally allows overclocking the graphics (For this obviously it will be necessary to use the current free driver).

Likewise, a new driver for ARM Mali graphics, which comes with initial support for the Mali DP500, DP550 and DP650 graphics. Support for networked HDMI devices (via HDMI CEC or Consumer Electronics Control) and native support of Raspberry Pi 3 SoC.

Another novelty that is curious to highlight is the inclusion of support for Surface 3 touch technology. We are talking about a case in which perhaps Microsoft hardware receives more attention from Linux than from your own company.

Other improvements that we mention refer to the file systems such as Btrfs, XFS or EXT4, which unify their encryption system with the kernel standard. Also the well-known and regular security patches that, this time, focus on improving user space policies.