14 DAY TRIAL // Today, May 3, Linus Torvalds had the pleasure of announcing the immediate availability for download and testing of the second Release Candidate (RC) version of the upcoming Linux kernel 4.1, due for release in summer 2015.
Therefore, we’re informing our readers that Linux kernel 4.1 RC2 is now available for download and testing (see download link at the end of the article). This release includes the usual bug fixes and updated drivers.
According to Linus Torvalds, Linux kernel 4.1 RC2 is a fairly normal release that brings mostly driver fixes, architecture updates, especially for s390 because of a prng commit, and various file system and networking improvements.
“I think people tend to take a breather after the merge window, because the -rc3's tend to then be a bit bigger again,” says Linus Torvalds. "But it may just also be that I've just gotten much better at saying "the merge window is over, I'm not taking random stragglers, or that people are just getting better at keeping to the merge window.”
As usual, you can download Linux kernel 4.1 RC2 right now via Softpedia or directly from the kernel.org website. However, please keep in mind that this is a pre-release version of Linux kernel 4.1, which might contain unresolved issues leading to system crashes. Thus, it's not suitable for production environments where stability is a must.