Linux Kernel 5.11 has been Released

Linus Torvalds (the creator of Linux) has officially released the latest kernel for the open source operating system. Kernel 5.11 includes the usual dose of expanded hardware support, as well as a feature that should excite gamers, and an improvement for Wi-Fi.

As far as expanded hardware support, kernel 5.11  has brought improvements to RISC-V, as well as support for RISC-V CPU architecture such as OpenRISC support for the LiteX SoC controller driver.

On the Intel side of things, kernel 5.11 adds support for: Iris Xe GPU, Software Guard Extensions (SGX), and Intel Platform Monitoring Technology (PMT). Conversely, Intel Itanium support has finally been dropped.

With AMD, 5.11 enhances performance for Zen 2/Zen 3 CPUs, added support for Van Gogh.

Finally, Nvidia RTX 30 GPU support has been added.

One of the more exciting additions to the kernel is the inclusion of the Syscall User Dispatch (SUD), which provides functionality for compatibility layers for quick capture of system calls issued by a non-native part of an application. This addition will greatly improve Windows games running via Proton or Wine.

Finally, the Linux kernel is adding support for the 6GHz band (Ultra High Band or UHB) support for WiFi 6E in the Intel WiFi “IWLWIFI” driver. This will make it possible to connect to wireless channels that use Ultra High Band.

Read more about kernel 5.11 in Linus' official release announcement.