Users can now test the last Release Candidate of Linux 4.2

Aug 24, 2015 04:35 GMT  ·  By

Linus Torvalds announced a few minutes ago that the eighth and last RC (Release Candidate) version of the anticipated Linux 4.2 kernel is now available for download and testing.

According to Mr. Torvalds, Linux kernel 4.2 RC8 is a small Release Candidate version that contains last-minute reverts for things that weren't ready to be part of this release after all. Most of the changes are updated drivers, along with various networking improvements, a fix for the x86 architecture, as well as perf tooling improvements.

"So 4.2-rc8 is out, and that obviously means that I ended up deciding to chicken out after all, and delay the 4.2 release one week," says Linus Torvalds. "It's not like there are any real outstanding issues, and I waffled between just doing the release and doing another -rc. [...] I decided that waiting an extra week isn't going to hurt. But it was close. It's a fairly small rc8, and I really feel like it could have gone either way."

Now we will all have to wait patiently for the final release of Linux kernel 4.2, which will arrive at the end of August 2015. Until then, you can download Linux kernel 4.2 RC8 right now via Softpedia or directly from the kernel.org website. Please keep in mind that this is a pre-release version, not suitable for production use.