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layout: doc
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---

### 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](https://github.com/QubesOS/qubes-issues/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+milestone%3A%22Release+3.0%22+label%3Abug)

It is advised to install updates just after system installation to apply bug fixes for (some of) the above problems.

## Downloads

See [Qubes Downloads](/doc/QubesDownloads/).

## Installation instructions

See [Installation Guide](/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 [qubes backup and restore tools](/doc/backup-restore/) for migrating of all of the user VMs.

Users of Qubes R2 can upgrade using [experimental procedure](/doc/upgrade-to-r3.0/).