Linux 2.6.31 will support USB 3.0, although the corresponding hardware is not yet available. Distributions are to use the new FireWire stack that now offers LAN support.

The next kernel version is to provide all that's necessary to convert, for example, a RAID 5 into a RAID 6 and vice versa. There are changes to the block layer designed to speed up the system, and new and improved drivers will offer better SAS support.

With ATI Catalyst 9.8, ATI finally has support for newer kernels. The Linux 2.6.29 kernel was released in March, but it has taken until today for AMD to release any support for this kernel. However, at the same time, they have also released support for the Linux 2.6.30 kernel, which arrived back in June.

Here's one from the file of random stuff you see when you put a new machine on the upstream kernel instead of the distro kernel. USB drivers for Linux will be GPL-only with the release of the upcoming kernel 2.6.25.. USB maintainer Greg Kroah-Hartman writes: "Over two years ago, the Linux USB developers stated that they believed there was no way to create a USB kernel driver that was not under the GPL. This patch moves the USB apis to enforce that decision."

Some time ago Dell introduced the dynamic kernel module support (DKMS) to automatically recompile kernel modules during kernel updates. Now the first average-user apps supporting dkms emerged: VirtualBox and ATI graphics drivers.

The patch by Linux kernel developer Mike Galbraith adds a mere 233 lines of code to the kernel's scheduler, but it cuts desktop latency down by a factor of ten. That's impressive — it's almost like getting a new computer.

Maybe the smallest desktop-based Linux distribution, which requires only 10 MB free space on an USB drive, CD or an internal hard disk drive, Tiny Core Linux could give you a new experience and maximum Internet speed with a customizable X desktop and by running entirely in RAM. The Tiny Core Linux distribution is powered by Linux 2.6 kernel, Busybox, Tiny X, Fltk and Jwm.

Features: Kernel 2.6.32.11-bfs kernel for maximum desktop performance. Full KDE 4.4.2 Desktop. Nvidia and ATI fglrx driver support. Multimedia playback support for many popular formats.

Linus Torvalds announced the release of a stable Linux 2.6.32 kernel. Major additions include kernel-based mode setting (KMS) and 3D graphics support on select Radeon cards, plus new kernel shared memory (KSM) technology for KVM virtualization, power-saving and performance improvements, and a faster "Devtmpfs" boot technology.