The Tails OS project has announced the availability of Tails 4.4. The new update doesn’t bring any groundbreaking changes but it does fix many security vulnerabilities that were detected since the last update. Some of the main packages to be updated are Tor Browser (9.0.6), Thunderbird (68.5.0), and the Linux kernel (5.4.19). According to the release notes, users are advised to upgrade as soon as possible.
In the past, in-place updates on Tails have been a bit hit-and-miss and users have sometimes been forced to perform a manual upgrade; this time around, those running Tails 4.2, 4.2.2, and 4.3 to 4.4 will be able to perform an automatic upgrade. As soon as you connect to the internet you should be notified that an update is available and be given the option to execute it.
With the new Linux kernel update, newer hardware will be supported. Additionally, an issue has been fixed which prevented those with Realtek RTL8822BE and RTL8822CE chipsets from connecting to the Wi-Fi. The project has requested feedback from users who have experienced Wi-Fi connection issues since Tails 4.1, it’d like to know if your issues are now resolved, you can get in touch here.
Tails and the Tor Browser are usually updated a day after Mozilla updates it’s Firefox web browser, therefore, Tails 4.5’s release is already pencilled in for April 7. If you’d like to learn more about where the project is headed in the long-term, check out its roadmap.