Linux 5.6 Is Going To Be A Prominent Kernel With Features From USB4 To WireGuard

While there still is several weeks to go until the Linux 5.5 kernel reaches stable and that marking the start of the Linux 5.6 merge window, already from the work we've been tracking in the various "next" branches, this first full kernel cycle of 2020 is going to be a big one.

Among the items on our radar that are already queued in the various -next/development trees ahead of the Linux 5.6 merge window include:

- WireGuard will finally be in the mainline tree!

- Intel's contributions of initial USB4 support in the Linux 5.6 kernel.

- F2FS data compression support using LZO and LZ4 options.

- AMD Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) support wired up for the PSP / Secure Processor on newer APUs.

- Faster EXT4 write performance under Direct I/O.

- Intel server power management improvements.

- Improvements or even replacing the Microsoft exFAT driver.

- FSCRYPT inline encryption support.

- More Intel Tiger Lake and Jasper Lake bits especially on the graphics driver front.

- More Logitech device support.

- DMA-BUF HEAPS support.

- Power management improvements for Radeon GPUs and continued Arcturus enablement.

Plus a lot more... Stay tuned for our Linux 5.6 feature coverage to heat up when the merge window officially opens up either in late January or early February depending upon how the rest of the 5.5 cycle plays out.