VOOZH about

URL: https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.0-Is-Next

⇱ Linus Torvalds Confirms The Next Kernel Is Linux 7.0 - Phoronix

👁 Phoronix

Linus Torvalds Confirms The Next Kernel Is Linux 7.0

Written by Michael Larabel in Linux Kernel on 8 February 2026 at 04:25 PM EST. 41 Comments
Following Linus Torvalds releasing Linux 6.19 stable, Linus Torvalds is now out with his customary release announcement. Notably he officially confirmed that the next kernel version is Linux 7.0 as the successor to Linux 6.19.

Linus Torvalds wrote in the Linux 6.19 release announcement:
"I have more than three dozen pull requests for when the merge window opens tomorrow - thank you to all the early maintainers. And as people have mostly figured out, I'm getting to the point where I'm being confused by large numbers (almost running out of fingers and toes again), so the next kernel is going to be called 7.0."

So it's on to the Linux 7.0 kernel cycle kicking off tomorrow. The Linux 7.0 merge window will run the next two weeks. Linux 7.0 stable will be out in mid-April as the kernel version also squeezing into Ubuntu 26.04 LTS.

👁 Tux for Linux 7.0


There are a lot of exciting changes on the table for Linux 7.0.

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.