Linux 6.17 Features: Great Intel Graphics Improvements, AMD HFI, Attack Vector Controls + Lenovo Gaming Drivers
Linux File-Systems / Storage:
- Btrfs performance improvements and experimental support for large folios.
- Multi-device file-systems can now better cope with losing a disk.
- Better block allocation scalability for the EXT4 file-system to lead to some nice performance improvements.
- EROFS metadata compression and a big speed-up for reading directories with that read-only file-system.
- A number of NFS server and client updates including NFSv4 support for reading the birth time (btime) and other additions.
- F2FS is now using the modern mount API.
- Many fixes to the Apple HFS and HFS+ drivers.
- Many block and IO_uring improvements.
- Removing the unmaintained Pktcdvd driver.
- New file_getattr and file_setattr system calls.
- Linux 6.17 can write zeroes more efficiently to SSDs.
- The NTFS3 driver will correctly handle symlinks made on Windows.
Other Hardware:
- Many networking changes from a new Broadcom 800G driver to more WiFi 7 enablement.
- Lenovo Legion Gaming Drivers to benefit the Lenovo Legion Go S gaming handheld and other gaming hardware on Linux.
- Various PCI Express improvements.
- Standardizing the keycode for the "performance boost" key found on some laptops such as certain Dell and Alienware models.
- Correctly mapping by default the F13 to F24 keys on PS/2 keyboards.
- SoundWire support for AMD ACP 7.2 hardware and other sound changes.
- Corsair HX1200i (2025 model) PSU monitoring support.
- Touch Bar support for x86 MacBook Pros.
- FireWire IEEE-1394 refinements.
- Staging cleanups of the Realtek RTL8723BS driver.
Linux Virtualization:
- The OVMF debug log driver to help in analyzing UEFI VM boot issues.
- Intel LKGS instruction support from FRED.
- Smarter AMD SEV cache flushing.
- Intel Xe enabling SR-IOV PF by default for Panther Lake and Battlemage graphics.
- A performance improvement for Intel TDX.
Linux Security:
- AF_Unix mediation for the AppArmor module.
- The Lockdown security module is back to being maintained.
Other Kernel Improvements:
- New memory management optimizations.
- The EFI stub will try to maintain a cleaner boot experience.
- Fixing a performance bottleneck in the futex code.
- GTK3 version of the gconfig utility for configuring the Linux kernel build.
- Kdump crash kernel is now more reliable and wasting less memory.
- A new hash_pointers= boot parameter.
- Numerous Rust code additions.
- Deferred Unwinder code as prepping for SFrame support to enhance debugging.
- A 10x workaround thanks to a kernel locking change.
- Addressing an old and obscure kernel limitation dating back to 1993.
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