======================== Qubes R3.0 release notes ======================== Qubes R3.0 Release Notes ------------------------ This Qubes OS release is dedicated to the memory of Caspar Bowden. New features since 2.0 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - HAL (Hypervisor Abstraction Layer) - based on libvirt, opens a whole new possibilities of using different hypervisors. Currently Qubes OS uses Xen. - Xen 4.4 - many new features, but for us the most important is much more mature libxl toolstack. - Qrexec 3 - greatly improved performance by using direct VM-VM connections and bigger buffers. - Debian templates gets official support. - Whonix templates - Build system improvements - especially support for distribution-specific plugins (makes supporting multiple distributions much easier) and building templates using DispVM. - Automated tests - makes much easier to find bugs, before its even shipped to users Known issues ^^^^^^^^^^^^ - Windows Tools: ``qvm-block`` does not work - UEFI is not supported, you need to enable “legacy boot” in BIOS before installing Qubes OS - Some icons in the Qubes Manager application might not be drawn correctly when using the Xfce4 environment in Dom0. If this bothers you, please use the KDE environment instead. - If your GPU is not correctly supported by the Dom0 kernel (e.g. the 3D desktop effects do not run smoothly) then you might experience “heaviness” with Windows 7-based AppVMs. In that case, please solve the problem with your GPU support in Dom0 in the first place (by using a different kernel), or install Qubes OS on a different system. - For other known issues take a look at `our tickets `__ It is advised to install updates just after system installation to apply bug fixes for (some of) the above problems. Downloads ^^^^^^^^^ See `Qubes Downloads `__. Installation instructions ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ See :doc:`Installation Guide `. Upgrading ^^^^^^^^^ From R3.0 release candidate --------------------------- If you are using Qubes R3.0rc1, R3.0rc2 or R3.0rc3, just install system updates, there is no special steps required. From R2.0 or earlier -------------------- The easiest and safest way to upgrade to Qubes R3.0 is to install it from scratch and use :doc:`qubes backup and restore tools ` for migrating of all of the user VMs. Users of Qubes R2 can upgrade using :doc:`experimental procedure `.