Tails 3.12 Anonymous OS Is Out with Linux 4.19, Tor Browser 8.0.5, and USB Image

[The AchieVer]

Tails 3.12 Anonymous OS Is Out with Linux 4.19, Tor Browser 8.0.5, and USB Image 

The Tails amnesic incognito live system also known as the Anonymous OS used by NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden to stay hidden online, has been updated today to version 3.12.

Tails 3.12 is a stable release that comes as an incremental update to the previous version, Tails 3.10, adding numerous many updated components from the upstream Debian repositories, security vulnerabilities, as well as other exciting changes. But the biggest news is that Tails can now be downloaded as a USB image along the standard ISO image.

"In short, instead of downloading an ISO image (a format originally designed for CDs), you now download Tails as a USB image: an image of the data as it needs to be written to the USB stick," reads today's announcement. "We are still providing ISO images for people using DVDs or virtual machines. The methods for upgrading Tails remain the same."

The new USB image will allow you to more easily write the latest Tails image on a USB flash drive to install the operating system on any computer you'd like, no matter the operating system used. It works on computers running other GNU/Linux distributions, macOS, and even Windows, providing a much simpler, faster, and easy-to-use installation experience.

If you're writing the new Tails USB image from a Mac computer, you'll now have to deal with the Etcher tool. On GNU/Linux and Windows computers, the installation is now faster and no longer requires two USB sticks, nor an intermediary Tails. Furthermore, you can now use the GNOME Disks app to write the Tails USB image on Debian and Ubuntusystems.Powered by Linux kernel 4.1 9 and TOR Browser 8.0.5Under the hood, the Tails 3.12 release is powered by the long-term supported Linux 4.19 kernel series, which includes updated firmware and microcode for AMD and Intel CPUs to better support newer hardware. It also comes with up-to-date components, including the latest Tor Browser 8.0.5 anonymous web browser and Mozilla Thunderbird 60.4.0 email and news client.

Among other noteworthy changes, we can mention that Tails now start a bit faster, no matter the computer you're running it on, should no longer display a black screen with some Intel graphics cards, and will notify users to use "sudo" instead of "su" at the command prompt. Also, Tails no longer ships with the Liferea RSS reader. You can download Tails 3.12 right now from our free software portal, and mark your calendars for the Tails 3.13 release on March 19, 2019.

 

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[Togijak]

Changes (the important part of this news)

New features

New installation methods

The biggest news for 3.12 is that we completely changed the installation methods for Tails.

In short, instead of downloading an ISO image (a format originally designed for CDs), you now download Tails as a USB image: an image of the data as it needs to be written to the USB stick.

• For macOS, the new method is much simpler as it uses a graphical tool (Etcher) instead of the command line.

• For Windows, the new method is much faster as it doesn't require 2 USB sticks and an intermediary Tails anymore. The resulting USB stick also works better on newer computers with UEFI.

• For Debian and Ubuntu, the new method uses a native application (GNOME Disks) and you don't have to install Tails Installer anymore.

• For other Linux distributions, the new method is faster as it doesn't require 2 USB sticks and an intermediary Tails anymore.

We are still providing ISO images for people using DVDs or virtual machines.

The methods for upgrading Tails remain the same.

Upgrades and changes

• Starting Tails should be a bit faster on most machines. (#15915)

• Tell users to use sudo when they try to use su on the command line.

Included software

• Update Linux to 4.19. Update Intel and AMD microcodes and most firmware packages. This should improve the support for newer hardware (graphics, Wi-Fi, etc.).

• Remove Liferea, as announced in Tails 3.9.

• Update Tor Browser to 8.0.5.

• Update Thunderbird to 60.4.0.

Fixed problems

• Fix the black screen when starting Tails with some Intel graphics cards. (#16224)

For more details, read our changelog.

 

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