Linus Torvalds on the Near Future of the Linux Kernel
Talking in an interview with InformationWeek Linus Torvalds revealed what features and functions we can look forward to from the Linux kernel in the near future, what direction development will take, and what his views are on the continual accusations by Microsoft.
The focus of next year’s work will be improving hardware support, said Torvalds, with work being put into drivers and porting to other platforms. He identified graphics and WLAN drivers as former weak spots with the situation currently improving and likely to continue doing so next year.
What Torvalds is really excited about is the use of solid state disks (SSD) which he anticipates will help to reduce latency in data access, thus having a huge positive impact on the Linux kernel’s latencies. Although virtualization is not one of his favorite topics, Torvalds doesn’t deny that much has been going on in that field.
Torvalds sees Linux’s strength of Linux compared to Windows less in a specific area than in the flexibility of Linux. Virtualization is a good example of this that shows the validity of various different approaches, according to Torvalds. At the same time it demonstrates the true strength of the Open Source model versus single-vendor models.
Asked to comment on Microsoft’s claims that Linux infringes on Microsoft patents, Linus Torvalds response showed that he was fairly confident that there was very little to support the accusations.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.

News
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.