Measures to support the power saving mechanisms of AMD graphics chips, network code optimisations for multi-core processors, features for de-fragmenting the working memory and an improved support of the power management and turbo features offered by modern processors are among the highlights of the new kernel version

Measures to optimise the power management code and fully support the Turbo Core function of recent AMD six-core processors increase the data throughput and processing speed of Linux 2.6.35. Further kernel additions include tracing interfaces for KVM, another kernel configuration program, and functions for de-fragmenting the working memory

Several patches submitted by a Google developer will enable the kernel to push considerably more data through network cables on multi-core systems. Some of the LAN and Wi-Fi drivers also promise greater throughput, or to use less power, due to various driver enhancements

Linus has released the 2.6.25 kernel. After nearly three months of development and the merging of over 12,000 patches from almost 1200 developers, this kernel is now considered ready for wider use.

AppArmor, Fsnotify, built-in support for Turbo Boost on newer Intel mobile processors and a KMS driver for the latest GeForce graphics cards are some of the more significant changes in Linux kernel 2.6.36, scheduled for release in October

The recent bruhaha surrounding Xen on LKML is really disheartening. Essentially, the Linux kernel devs are at a disconnect with users. Some are proposing narrow-minded ideas such as DROPPING software paravirt or merging Xen as a whole into the kernel.

Mel Gorman posted the seventh version of his Memory Compaction patches asking, "are there any further obstacles to merging?" The patches, first posted in May of 2007, provide a mechanism for moving GFP_MOVABLE pages into a smaller number of pageblocks, reducing externally fragmented memory.

Rusty Russell posted on LKML some patches to add documentation for his actual kernel work known as lguest. In one of his patches Rusty wrote:”Indeed, no code changes, and I feel strongly that it should go into 2.6.23 because it’s fun. And (as often complained) there’s not enough poetry in the kernel.”

Tiny Core Linux is a very small (10 MB) minimal Linux GUI Desktop. It is based on Linux 2.6 kernel, Busybox, Tiny X, and Fltk. The core runs entirely in ram and boots very quickly . Also offered is Micro Core a 6 MB image that is the console based engine of Tiny Core.