14 DAY TRIAL // Linus Torvalds has just announced that the new Linux kernel 4.3 has been released and is now available for download. This marks the end of a new development cycle, for 4.3, and the beginning of the next one, 4.4.
The new Linux kernel 4.3 has finally arrived, and it looks like no major problems have troubled the developers. As usual, the new Linux kernel packs an assortment of changes and improvements, and we'll likely see it integrated very soon in a host of operating systems. This is not a long term release, so there won't be a lot of updates down the line, but any kernel upgrade is usually a good one.
In fact, developers announced just a short while ago that Linux kernel 4.4 would be the next LTS release, which is something that hasn't been done before. Usually, kernels were declared LTS (long term support) after their release, but now we know ahead of time. This will make some fascinating research, as the number of people willing to upgrade to version 4.3 will be smaller since they know that 4.4 LTS is on its way.
Linux kernel 4.3 is here, and it's ready
As usual, compiling a new version of the Linux kernel from source is not something that we can recommend unless you know what you are doing. On the other hand, this is something that all Linux users should try to do at least once, so they know what it entails.
"We had a network update and a late fix for a x86 vm86 mode bug introduced by the vm86 cleanups, but other than that it's just a collection of various small oneliners all over. Ok, the vm86 mode thing was a one-liner too, it was just slightly more nerve-wracking because it looked scarier than it was before people (Andy) figured out what was going on. The changes from rc7 are dominated by the network stuff, but as you can tell from the appended shortlog it's not anything particularly scary," wrote Linus Torvalds in this regular announcement.
You can download Linux kernel 4.3 right now from Softpedia. Please keep in mind that it's only the source code, so if you don't know what to do with it, you need to wait until it reaches the repositories for your OS.