Linux Kernel 6.13 First Release Candidate (RC1) Launched with Multiple New Features and Improvements

The official version of Linux Kernel 6.12 was released at the beginning of last month, and now the first release candidate (RC1) for Linux Kernel 6.13 is available for public testing. The official release is scheduled between January 19 and January 26, 2025.

Linux Kernel 6.13 introduces several new features and improvements. Developers interested in testing can download Linux Kernel 6.13 RC1 from Kernel.org. Please be aware that the release candidate may contain some unknown issues, so it's advised not to use it in production environments to avoid potential business interruptions.

Highlighted New Features in Linux Kernel 6.13:

• Support for running Linux in protected virtual machines under Arm CCA and the Guest Control Stack (GCS).
• Support for Intel's 6-node sub-NUMA clustering.
• New character device user-space API feature for notifying user-space about changes triggered by kernel users.

New Improvements in Linux Kernel 6.13:

• The amd-pstate cpufreq driver is set as the default for some of the newer AMD EPYC processors.
• Added PMU support for Intel Arrow Lake-H CPUs.
• Implementation of MIPI DisCo 2.0 specification support within the SoundWire subsystem.
• Enablement of the lazy preemption model for x86, RISC-V, and LoongArch platforms.
• Addition of per-netns RTNL for networking (note: this is disabled by default).
• Hardware superpage support added for V3D drivers.
• Support added for Intel Panther Lake CPUs.

File System Updates in Linux Kernel 6.13:

• F2FS file system introduces a device alias feature for partitioning, which also allows for space reclamation by removing alias files in the root directory.
• FUSE file system supports page to page frame conversion, and the maximum number of FUSE requests can be configured via sysctl.
• EXT4 file system receives numerous miscellaneous error fixes and cleanups.
• Btrfs file system performance improved by reducing the scope buffer traversal and lock contention on range trees during the search for inline back references.
• exFAT file system performance enhanced by reducing FTA chain traversal.

Finally, Linux Kernel 6.13 also brings real-time computing capabilities to the LoongArch architecture, supporting user-space pointer masking and probing for misaligned vector access performance.

According to Linus Torvalds's schedule, if 7 RC versions of 6.13 are released, the official version will be launched on January 19. If 8 RC versions are released, the launch will be postponed to January 26.