[qubes-users] Qubes OS 4.1-rc2 has been released!

Dear Qubes Community,

We're pleased to announce the second release candidate for Qubes 4.1!

Qubes 4.1-rc2 contains fixes for bugs that were discovered in the first
release candidate (4.1-rc1). For existing Qubes 4.1-rc1 users, a regular
update [01] is sufficient to upgrade to 4.1-rc2.

In case you haven't heard, Qubes 4.1 includes several major new
features, each of which is explained in depth in its own article:

- Qubes Architecture Next Steps: The GUI Domain [02]
- Qubes Architecture Next Steps: The New Qrexec Policy System [03]
- New Gentoo templates and maintenance infrastructure [04]
- Reproducible builds for Debian: a big step forward [05]

There are also numerous other improvements and bug fixes listed in
the release notes [06] and in the issue tracker [07].

Finally, Qubes 4.1 features the following updated default components:

- Xen 4.14
- Fedora 32 in dom0
- Fedora 34 template
- Debian 11 template
- Whonix 16 Gateway and Workstation templates
- Linux kernel 5.10

How to test Qubes 4.1-rc2

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Andrew David Wong:

Dear Qubes Community,

We're pleased to announce the second release candidate for Qubes 4.1!

Qubes 4.1-rc2 contains fixes for bugs that were discovered in the first
release candidate (4.1-rc1). For existing Qubes 4.1-rc1 users, a regular
update [01] is sufficient to upgrade to 4.1-rc2.

In case you haven't heard, Qubes 4.1 includes several major new
features, each of which is explained in depth in its own article:

- Qubes Architecture Next Steps: The GUI Domain [02]
- Qubes Architecture Next Steps: The New Qrexec Policy System [03]
- New Gentoo templates and maintenance infrastructure [04]
- Reproducible builds for Debian: a big step forward [05]

There are also numerous other improvements and bug fixes listed in
the release notes [06] and in the issue tracker [07].

Finally, Qubes 4.1 features the following updated default components:

- Xen 4.14
- Fedora 32 in dom0
- Fedora 34 template
- Debian 11 template
- Whonix 16 Gateway and Workstation templates
- Linux kernel 5.10

How to test Qubes 4.1-rc2
-------------------------

If you're willing to test [08] this release candidate, you can help to
improve the stable release by reporting any bugs you encounter [09].
Experienced users are strongly encouraged to join the testing team [10]!

How to migrate to 4.1-rc2:

- If you're already on 4.1-rc1, simply perform a normal update [01].
- If you're not on 4.1-rc1, you have two options:
1. Back up [11] your current installation, download [12] 4.1-rc2,
perform a fresh install [13], then restore [14] from your backup.
2. Perform an in-place upgrade [15].

Release candidate planning
--------------------------

As with any release candidate, it's possible that user testing will
reveal important bugs that we'll want to fix before the stable release.
We plan to release the next release candidate in approximately five
weeks. As explained in our general release schedule [16], this cycle
will continue until no major bugs are discovered, at which point the
latest release candidate will be declared the stable 4.1 release.

[01] How to update | Qubes OS
[02] Qubes Architecture Next Steps: The GUI Domain | Qubes OS
[03] Qubes Architecture Next Steps: The New Qrexec Policy System | Qubes OS
[04] New Gentoo templates and maintenance infrastructure | Qubes OS

[05] Reproducible builds for Debian: a big step forward | Qubes OS

[06] Qubes OS 4.1 release notes | Qubes OS
[07] Issues · QubesOS/qubes-issues · GitHub

[08] Testing new releases and updates | Qubes OS
[09] Issue tracking | Qubes OS
[10] Joining the Testing Team
[11] How to back up, restore, and migrate | Qubes OS

[12] Download Qubes OS | Qubes OS
[13] Installation guide | Qubes OS
[14] How to back up, restore, and migrate | Qubes OS

[15] How to upgrade to Qubes 4.1 | Qubes OS
[16] Version scheme | Qubes OS

This announcement is also available on the Qubes website:
Qubes OS 4.1-rc2 has been released! | Qubes OS

Is there any HCL list for Qubes 4.1? I have Nitropad X230 but from the previous conversations I was told that it is not so easy to transit with this laptop to 4.1 and also the Heads needs to be upgraded. Is that still true? I would like to transit to 4.1 but wel safely as my current 4.0.6 is my main laptop used for all my activites.

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Yes, simply go here and click on the "Qubes" column header to sort by Qubes release: