The Tails team, who is noticeably mainstream now after the Snowden Leaks, has announced the release of Tails 2.6 RC1.

Tails 2.6 RC1 is the first release in the development of the next Debian-based GNU/Linux distribution. Coming out in September, it will bring along more up to date technologies to keep users safer, and more secure while online.  It is being based on Tor 0.2.8.6 so there is better support for the Tor network right off the bat. The Icedove email as well as the news client have been updated based on Mozilla’s Thunderbird 45.2.0. The Kernel also comes with Kernel Address Space Layout Randomization(KASLR) by default.

Another added feature is the wider range of support it offers. Firmware-intel-sound and firmware-ti-connectivity have been supported to offer more support for a range of Wi-Fi adapters and sound cards.

The About Tails dialog and boot-profiles have been ported to Python 3, and more support for running RNG hardware devices. Also, the vboxvideoX.org driver is no longer forced when running Tails in a Virtual Box, and the non-free APT sources are disabled at start up.

“Only build the VirtualBox kernel modules for the 32-bit kernel. It’s both hard and useless to build it for 64-bit in the current state of things, as long as we’re shipping a 32-bit user space. Also, install Virtualbox-* from Jessie-backports, since the version in Jessie is not compatible with Linux 4.x,” it said in a statement.

Tails 2.6 RC1 is available for download now. The final version is set to release in September of this year. The current release is a “pre-release” and not the finished product, so keep in mind that I may contain a few unresolved bugs at this point in time. It’s often been debated as to whether Tails is absolutely needed when using Tor. Whether your concerned about your privacy and security online, or your up to no good; it’s always a good idea to think “safety first.” If it’s a big enough question you have to debate it with yourself, there is a good chance you’re going to need something like Tails.

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