14 DAY TRIAL // If you wanted to deploy the Arch Linux operating system with the latest Linux 4.15 kernel pre-installed on your personal computer, now you can by using the recently released Arch Linux 2018.03.01 image.
The Arch Linux 2018.03.01 ISO snapshot for March 2018 is here, available for download right now from the official website, and it looks like it's the first to be powered by the Linux 4.15 kernel by default, which means all new Arch Linux installations will now be powered by Linux kernel 4.15.
Linux kernel 4.15 was already available in Arch Linux's repos since last month for existing users who wanted to upgrade and enjoy its new features, such as patches for Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities, support for the RISC-V architecture, AMD Secure Encrypted Virtualization support, and much more.
A bit increased in size with about 20MB or more, compared with last month's ISO snapshot, Arch Linux 2018.03.01 also incorporates all the package updates and security patches that have been released to existing users through the official software repositories throughout the entire month of February 2018.
Arch Linux 2018.03.01 now ready to download for new installations
So, to keep this story short, if you plan on reinstalling your Arch Linux operating system, and you don't want or don't have the time to upgrade the packages to newer versions available in the repositories, you can now download the Arch Linux 2018.03.01 ISO snapshot, write it on a USB flash drive and install the OS.
As for existing users, all you have to do to keep your Arch Linux installation up-to-date is to run the "sudo pacman -Syu" command in a terminal emulator. Arch Linux 2018.03.01 includes the Linux 4.15.6 kernel, but it looks like Linux kernel 4.15.7 is already in the Testing repository, so expect to update your OS soon.