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ZDNET's key takeaways
Linux 6.17 features significant CPU improvements.
It addresses the eternal Spectre and Meltdown security holes.
The next release, 6.18, will be a long-term support kernel.
Linus Torvalds is the first to admit that there have been more exciting Linux kernel releases. He announced the release of the 6.17 Linux kernel by writing, "It's not exciting, which is all good. I think the biggest patch in there is some locking fixes for some Bluetooth races that could cause use-after-free situations. Whee -- that's about as exciting as it gets."
Also: 5 of my favorite Linux distros ready to use out of the box - no setup required
With that said, 6.17 does come with some notable performance boosts, expanded hardware support, and a medley of improvements aimed at server, desktop, and embedded systems.
The most important of these improvements is for the AMD Ryzen chip. By delivering improved hardware feedback scheduling for Ryzen chips via the new Hardware Feedback Interface (HFI) driver, hybrid-core laptops and desktops will be more intelligent in handling workload distribution with SmartMux support. The feature works by auto-switching between integrated and discrete graphics based on your workload. So, depending on what you're doing, it can either save power or boost your performance as needed.
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