In mid-February, the Linux kernel 5.11 reached its final version, becoming available to all users. This version, which has already received two patches to date, has not been one of the largest that have been seen within the Linux ecosystem, but it has brought important improvements in the graphics drivers, connectivity and some utilities for gamers. Right now the community is focused on the development of the new Linux Kernel 5.12 , which has just reached its first Release Candidate and, thanks to this, we can know the features that it will bring when it reaches its final version.
What’s New in the Linux 5.12 Kernel
As usual, this new version of the kernel will bring a large number of new drivers , both for CPU and graphics cards.
For example, support has been improved for many Intel logic chips, such as the eASIC N5X, as well as the latest ARM processors on the market, such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G. Of course, it has also been used to eliminate support for many ARM CPUs that are already very old and unused. Support for the NetGear R8000P Nighthawk X6S router has also been optimized, the compatibility of Allwinner H616 notebooks improved, and Linux has been prepared to run on Microsoft Surfaces.
In terms of GPUs , the new Linux 5.12 improves support for Intel Rocker Lake and Tigerlake iGPUs. It also enables the use of Variable Refresh Rate, or Adaptive Sync, on Intel Xe processors through DisplayPort. AMD graphics have also received a fair share of improvements: FP16 support is coming to Radeon GPUs and overclocking is enabled on the RX 6800/6900. Support is also added for ARM Adreno 508, 509 and 512 graphics on mobile devices.
The file systems of this Linux have also been improved. As usual, the new Linux kernel 5.12 brings with it a series of fixes for all available file systems. And also the support of XFS and BTRFS is specially improved.
Other important changes that we can find in it are:
- Development of support for USB 4.0 continues .
- Compatibility with the latest hardware on the market.
- Support for the native PS5 controller as well as the Broadcom VK controller.
- Compatibility with new audio mixers, such as the Pioneer DJM-750.
- Support has been added for the Nintendo 64 (although it doesn’t make much sense with the N64 emulators).
- Improvements in audio debugging.
From now on, the new Linux kernel 5.12 will begin a new phase of its development, debugging. While it lasts, the kernel will not receive any more news, but will focus exclusively on detecting and solving errors.
When will the final version arrive
For now, the last final version of the kernel available is Linux 5.11.2, which we can download from the Kernel website . Here we can also find this first Release Candidate of Kernel 5.12. However, as we say, it is a version still in development, which surely has errors, and that we should only use in test environments.
If development continues, and there are no setbacks, it is estimated that we could see the final version of this new Linux kernel around the middle of April. Until then, we will have to go through 7 or 8 more Release Candidates in which all the errors detected will be solved and the code of the new functions will be debugged to guarantee optimal operation.