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Tails 4.9, the amnesic incognito live system also known as the Anonymous OS, has been released released today with various improvements and updated core components.
Tails 4.9 is a monthly update that’s here to replace last month’s Tails 4.8 release for those who want to install the popular amnesic incognito live system on new computers.
Therefore, Tails 4.9 is just an updated installation media containing various up-to-date components. The most important updated component in this release being the Linux kernel, which has been updated to version 5.7.6.
Tails 4.8 was using Linux kernel 5.6, which is no longer supported, so the inclusion of the latest Linux 5.7 kernel series in Tails is great news for those who want to run the Debian-based distribution on newer hardware.
However, it would appear that the Linux 5.7.6 kernel included in Tails 4.9 doesn’t support USB Wi-Fi adapters with Atheros AR9271 chips. The issue will be fixed in the next Tails release, according to the project’s developers, but if you’re installing Tails 4.9 and you have a USB Wi-Fi adapter with an Atheros AR9271 chip, update the kernel as soon as a new version is available.
Other than the upgraded kernel stack, this new Tails release updates the Tor Browser anonymous web browser to version 9.5.3 and the Mozilla Thunderbird email, news and chat client to version 68.10.0. Unfortunately, the latest Thunderbird 78 didn’t make it in this release.
Also updated are the VirtualBox guest modules to version 6.1.12, as well as the firmware-linux and firmware-nonfree packages to version 20200421. The Evolution Data Server 3.30.5, FFmpeg 4.1.6, ImageMagick 6.9.10.23, NSS 3.42.1, OpenMPT 3.42.1, and WebKitGTK 2.28.3 are also included to fix various security issues.
Tails 4.9 also makes it possible to use administration passwords containing shell-special characters others than A–Z, a–z, 1–9, and _@%+=:,./-, lets you use the toram boot option again if you want to prevent your computer from shutting down when ejecting the USB stick, and correctly applies the keyboard layout selected in the Welcome Screen.
Last but not least, this release improves MAC spoofing and the build system. You can download Tails 4.9 right now from the official website or using the link below. Existing users need only to update their installations.
The next Tails release will be Tails 4.10, expected to hit the streets on August 25th, 2020.
Last updated 4 years ago
