Kernel 4.1 stable has been released this weekend, bringing many new changes and updates, including updated GPU drivers, enhancements for the BTRFS and EXT4 file systems, better support for Intel Atom processors and support for the new Intel Skylake.
Being a LTS version, new versions of Kernel 4.1.x will be released every week.
Also worth mentioning: Starting with Kernel 4.0 the long awaited Life Patching feature has been implemented, permitting the users to update the kernel without having to reboot the system. While this is not important for regular users, this feature is very good for Linux servers.
Installation instructions:
Compiling a Linux kernel is a little difficult and takes some time, but the Ubuntu (and derivative) users do not have to worry about that, because Canonical provides deb packages for these systems, via its kernel.ubuntu.com repository.
The below commands are available for all the Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Elementary OS, Pinguy OS, Deepin and other Ubuntu derivative systems like Peppermint, LXLE, Linux Lite, Voyager etc. Pay attention to download and install the Kernel patch for your system’s architecture (i386 debs for 32 bit systems and amd64 debs for 64 bit systems).
How to install Kernel 4.1 on 32 bit Ubuntu and derivative systems:
Download the needed packages:
$ cd /tmp
$ wget \
kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.1-unstable/linux-headers-4.1.0-040100_4.1.0-040100.201506220235_all.deb \
kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.1-unstable/linux-headers-4.1.0-040100-generic_4.1.0-040100.201506220235_i386.deb \
kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.1-unstable/linux-image-4.1.0-040100-generic_4.1.0-040100.201506220235_i386.deb
Install Kernel 4.1:
$ sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.1*.deb linux-image-4.1*.deb
Optional, remove the kernel:
$ sudo apt-get remove linux-header-4.1* linux-image-4.1*
How to install Kernel 4.1 on 64 bit Ubuntu and derivative systems:
Download the needed packages:
$ cd /tmp
$ wget \
kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.1-unstable/linux-headers-4.1.0-040100_4.1.0-040100.201506220235_all.deb \
kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.1-unstable/linux-headers-4.1.0-040100-generic_4.1.0-040100.201506220235_amd64.deb \
kernel.ubuntu.com/~kernel-ppa/mainline/v4.1-unstable/linux-image-4.1.0-040100-generic_4.1.0-040100.201506220235_amd64.deb
Install Kernel 4.1:
$ sudo dpkg -i linux-headers-4.1*.deb linux-image-4.1*.deb
Optional, remove the kernel:
$ sudo apt-get remove linux-header-4.1* linux-image-4.1*