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ZDNET's key takeaways

• The new kernel's number ends in zero, but it's not a milestone release.
• Linux 7.0 boasts improvements in Rust, its scheduler - and it's further embracing AI.
• More than half a dozen distros will let you try out Linux 7.0 now.

Once upon a time -- in 2015, to be precise -- Linux creator Linus Torvalds grew sick and tired of long, confusing Linux kernel version numbers. Since he was "close to running out of fingers and toes," he'd decided that instead of 3.20, he'd use 4.0 for the next release. 

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Now, he's released Linux 7.0, successor to Linux 6.19, for the same reason. If someone tells you that 7.0 is a "major" release, they're wrong. It's a good release with some significant changes, but it's not a "big" one. 

Rust is native at last

That said, Rust has finally become a stable part of Linux with this release after more than five years of debate and incremental work. At the invitation-only Linux Kernel Maintainers Summit in Tokyo in December 2025, Linux kernel developer Jonathan Corbet wrote, "The consensus among the assembled developers is that Rust in the kernel is no longer experimental -- it is now a core part of the kernel and is here to stay. So the 'experimental' tag will be coming off." 

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Specifically, in 7.0, the kernel's build tooling now recognizes Rust modules natively, with full cross-compilation support for x86_64, ARM, and RISC-V chips.

Indeed, some Linux distro vendors, such as Canonical's Ubuntu, are incorporating Rust into Linux as quickly as they can. As Jon Seager, VP of engineering for Ubuntu, told me last fall, Canonical will be replacing key system components with Rust-based alternatives to enhance safety and resilience.

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Another important improvement in 7.0 is a revamped scheduler that enables lazy preemption by default. The revised scheduler will optimize performance on hybrid CPU architectures such as Intel's Alder Lake and ARM's big.LITTLE processors. In addition, the new "adaptive scheduling domains" mechanism dynamically balances core workloads to reduce latency while improving battery life and thermal efficiency on mobile platforms. Server operators will see tangible improvements in throughput under mixed compute loads, particularly when running containerized workloads in cloud environments. 

In a related change, Time-Slice Extension (TIP) is now baked in. If you're a Linux desktop and gaming user, you'll appreciate its effects. 

Perhaps the most interesting change in 7.0 isn't in the Linux code itself, but in the Linux developer community's adoption of AI. As Torvalds said in his 7.0 release notes, "I suspect it's a lot of AI tool use that will keep finding corner cases for us for a while, so this may be the 'new normal' at least for a while." In other words, we'll see many more AI contributions coming to Linux soon. 

This sentiment is echoed by Greg Kroah-Hartman, maintainer of the Linux stable kernel, who told me recently that instead of AI drowning maintainers with AI slop, "Something happened and the world switched. Now we have real reports." It's not just Linux, he added. "All open-source projects have real reports that are made with AI, but they're good, and they're real."

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Kroah-Hartman added that he's made some documentation updates to the "security-bugs.rst file to hopefully tell the AI tools (and any users that actually read the documentation), how to send us better security bug reports as the quantity of reports these past few weeks has increased dramatically due to tools getting better at finding things."

Clearly, AI has become part of the Linux toolbox.

How to try Linux 7.0 today

Sounds interesting? Want to give 7.0 a try? Well, you can do it the hard way by pulling the 7.0 repository and compiling the kernel yourself. No, really! It's not that hard. 

Let's say you're not that hard-core a Linux user yet. You can still kick 7.0's tires by using one of the distributions that make a point of releasing versions with the latest kernel as soon as possible. 

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The following distros already have 7.0 available: Arch Linux, openSUSE Tumbleweed, Gentoo, NixOS (unstable), Fedora Rawhide, and Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (beta/rc). In the next few weeks, you'll also see it in Fedora 44 and Ubuntu 26.04. After that, popular Ubuntu-derived distributions such as Linux Mint and Pop!_OS 26.04 will roll it out -- Arch Linux's relative Manjaro.

Keep in mind, though, that while 7.0 is out now, it's also brand-spanking new. You can be sure you'll run into some glitches along the way. But, if you like living on Linux's bleeding edge, it's worth the trouble. Enjoy!