The Linux 3.18 Kernel Brings Many Great Changes

Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Kernel on 6 December 2014 at 01:39 PM EST. 10 Comments
LINUX KERNEL
The Linux 3.18 kernel is expected to be released this weekend and with this major update to the kernel are -- as usual -- an exciting number of changes and new features.

If you've fallen behind in your Phoronix reading with already having written dozens of articles about Linux 3.18 and carried out many tests already of this new kernel code, here's some of the highlights for end-users with Linux 3.18:

- Users of older R600 era ATI graphics cards now have R600 UVD support for GPU-based video decode acceleration while newer AMD GPUs have already been supported on the open-source stack.

- Radeon re-clocking improvements will benefit some open-source AMD Linux graphics driver users.

- Those using the open-source, reverse-engineered NVIDIA Linux driver (Nouveau) now have DisplayPort audio support and continued work on the long-standing battle for proper GPU re-clocking support.

- For Linux gamers, the Razer Sabertooth is now supported and there's improvements for other hardware input devices.

- Much faster suspend and resume support if you have yourself a large Linux server.

- Btrfs and F2FS improvements.

- Para-virtualized SCSI support (PVSCSI) is now available for Xen.

- The Linux 3.18 kernel is closer to being able to be compiled under Clang.

- OverlayFS was finally merged.

This next Linux kernel release is codenamed the Diseased Newt. Unless any last minute issues come up, expect the Linux 3.18 kernel to be officially released on Sunday (tomorrow).
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About The Author
Michael Larabel

Michael Larabel is the principal author of Phoronix.com and founded the site in 2004 with a focus on enriching the Linux hardware experience. Michael has written more than 20,000 articles covering the state of Linux hardware support, Linux performance, graphics drivers, and other topics. Michael is also the lead developer of the Phoronix Test Suite, Phoromatic, and OpenBenchmarking.org automated benchmarking software. He can be followed via Twitter, LinkedIn, or contacted via MichaelLarabel.com.

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