14 DAY TRIAL // Kali Linux 2020.1 is now live with a long list of improvements, including the highly-anticipated non-root by default that’s supposed to add an extra layer of security by using a standard unprivileged user.
Beginning with this release, if you run the live version of Kali, both the default user and password are “kali.” On the other hand, if you install the distro, you are prompted to create a non-root user with administrative privileges.
“Tools that we identify as needing root access, as well as common administrative functions such as starting/stopping services, will interactively ask for administrative privileges (at least when started from the Kali menu),” the dev team explains.
Three Kali Linux images now offered to users
Kali now comes with a single installer image, which can be used to deploy the OS without a network connection if the default package selection is used. However, there will be two more images available for download in addition to the installer one, namely a live image and a network installer image.
“We are no longer offering separate images for every desktop environment (DE). Instead, we now have a single image with the option to pick your DE during installation. This means there isn’t a download link for Xfce (which is our default option since 2019.4), GNOME, KDE, MATE or LXDE DEs. Just one image to rule them all,” the team continues.
The network install image is the smallest version that you can download, but it obviously requires a network connection to download the latest packages. It also allows you to select the desktop environment and the tools that you want to install. The live image allows you to try out the system without installing it, but it also comes with an installer that behaves like the network install image.
This latest release includes a new theme for GNOME users, with dark and light modes included by default. A visual facelift has also been included for tools, menu icons, and the setup experience.
And last but not least, there are several new packages included in this release, such as cloud-enum, emailharvester, phpggc, sherlock, splinter.
