After two months of development in which everything has gone according to plan, Linux Torvalds has released the stable version of Linux 6.16While there were some issues to address, such as several file system issues, there were no major headaches, and that has resulted in this kernel version arriving after the usual seven Release Candidates.
What follows is the list with the most outstanding news that have arrived with Linux 6.16. It's worth noting that OpenVPN is now directly in the kernel, just as WireGuard was included a while back.
What's New in Linux 6.16
Processors and virtualization
Linux 6.16 introduce Multiple optimizations for x86, ARM, and RISC-V architectures. Note the X86_NATIVE_CPU option, which allows you to compile the kernel optimized specifically for the local CPU, using the compiler parameter -march=nativeSupport for extending SBI firmware features in RISC-V has been added, including new SiFive extensions. The AMD SBI interface, known as APML (Advanced Platform Management Link), has also been integrated, as well as a new SPI driver for AMD chips.
For virtualized environments, Support for AMD SEV has been improved via a virtual TPM controller. At Intel, support for Trusted Domain Extensions (TDX) has been added, improving security in KVM. Additionally, a Siemens engineer has collaborated on a new overclocking watchdog for Intel, and the Energy Aware Scheduling feature has been added to the P-State driver for the upcoming Lunar Lake and Panther Lake chips.
Among other new features, there is also Improved thermal support with Intel Platform Temperature Control Interface, power management improvements, and better critical error handling in Intel SGX. On the ARM side, support for Arm SME has been added. Support for 11 more SoCs has been added, including the Sophgo SG2044, and more Snapdragon X-powered laptops now work properly. AES-XTS encryption performance with AVX-512 has been improved, and Intel APX support has been advanced. Additionally, the kernel now reports outdated microcode on an Intel CPU, treating this as a vulnerability.
Recorders
In the graphical field, Linux 6.16 adds Nouveau driver support for NVIDIA Blackwell and Hopper GPUsProgress has been made in preparation for the arrival of Intel Xe3 graphics, which will debut with Panther Lake. The Intel Xe driver now reports fan speeds and supports Intel LOBF (Link Off Between Frames).
The AMDKFD compute driver can now be activated on RISC-V systems, and the AMDGPU driver introduces support for user queues. The Asahi Project User API header file has also been included, considering future Apple Silicon support. Numerous improvements have been made to the graphics and display drivers in general.
Storage and File Systems in Linux 6.16
Linux 6.16 Improves the performance of systems such as Btrfs and Bcachefs, as well as adding support for atomic writes in XFS and “really amazing” improvements to EXT4. New code has been added to handle filesystem suspend and hibernation. Support for eMMC and SD cards has also been improved to allow for safe removal.
On the NVMe side, Flexible Data Placement (FDP) writes are supported. Support for copy-free receive with DMA-BUF has also been added, as well as larger block sizes in NFS and general improvements to FUSE, F2FS, and EROFS, including hardware acceleration with Intel QAT for faster decompression.
Network and VPN
One of the most anticipated new features has been the Integration of the OpenVPN DCO driver directly into the kernel, which significantly improves the performance of VPN connections. Support for TCP transmission from device memory has also been added. The DCCP protocol, which had been unmaintained for years, has been removed.
On the hardware side, support for the Realtek RTL8127A 10GbE Ethernet chip is added, along with general performance and compatibility improvements for both wired and wireless networks.
Other devices and hardware
Linux 6.16 improves the Laptop support with a new ACPI driver for Coreboot (Dasharo), and support for the ByoWave Proteus Modular Kit has been added, thanks to Valve. Support for the Apple Magic Mouse 2 with USB-C has also been added, and monitoring has been expanded to include more ASUS motherboards.
Among other improvements, PCIe support for the Apple M2 Pro, Max, and Ultra SoCs is highlighted. Initial support for USB audio offload on Qualcomm hardware is also included. The legacy GPIB controllers are ready to be moved out of staging in Linux 6.17, after more than 50 years of use. Additionally, there are new hardware-protected encryption keys and several new multimedia drivers.
Other kernel improvements in Linux 6.16
Linux 6.16 also introduces general improvements such as the ability to perform coredumps over sockets and improved efficiency when exiting user mode. The minimum GCC compiler requirement has been unified to version 8, and clear reporting of hard and soft locks and RCU counts has been added.
On the other hand, improvements continue to be made to CPU selection with Sched_EXT, already present in the mainline kernel. The ability to restrict GPL symbols to specific modules has been added, and new abstractions written in Rust have been introduced. Additionally, FUTEX2 receives improvements with local hash maps and improved behavior in NUMA environments.
Linux 6.16, coming soon to your distro
Linux 6.16 has been released in kernel.org And it will soon begin to appear in earlier Linux distributions, such as Arch Linux, which uses the Rolling Release development model. Its arrival in other distros will depend on each distro's update philosophy.