Qubes OS 4.0.1

Qubes OS is an open source distribution of Linux built around the Xen hypervisor, the X Window System and Linux kernel open source technologies. Qubes brings to your personal computer the security of the Xen Project hypervisor- the same software relied on by major hosting providers to isolate websites and services from each other. If it breaks, so goes the global digital economy. In Qubes, you run all your programs in domains. Domains are also called AppVMs because they’re implemented as lightweight virtual machines (VMs). Not every app runs in its own VM. (That would be a big waste of resources!) Instead, each VM represents a security domain (e.g., “work,” “personal,” “banking,” etc.). Each domain is based, by default, on a single, common TemplateVM (but you can create as many as you’d like). This means that when you create a new AppVM, you don’t copy the whole root filesystem needed for this AppVM to work (which would include copying all the programs). Instead, each AppVM shares the root filesystem with its respective TemplateVM. An AppVM has read-only access to the filesystem of the Template on which it’s based, so an AppVM cannot modify a TemplateVM in any way. Each domain, apart from having a distinct name, is also assigned a label, which is one of several pre-defined colors. The trusted window manager uses these colors in order to draw window decorations (color frames) around the windows of applications running in each domain. These allow you to quickly and easily identify the trust level of a given window at a glance.

It is distributed as a single Live DVD ISO image, supporting only the 64-bit (x86_64) hardware platform, which can be deployed to a USB flash drive or 4GB or bigger, as well as burned onto a DVD disc. From the boot menu, users can try or install the operating system.

Release notes:

New Release
Core management scripts rewrite with better structure and extensibility, API documentation
Admin API allowing strictly controlled managing from non-dom0
All qvm-* command-line tools rewritten, some options have changed
Renaming VM directly is prohibited, there is GUI to clone under new name and remove old VM
Use PVH and HVM by default to mitigate Meltdown & Spectre and lower the attack surface on Xen
Create USB VM by default
Multiple DisposableVMs templates support
New backup format using scrypt key-derivation function
Non-encrypted backups no longer supported
split VM packages, for better support minimal, specialized templates
Qubes Manager decomposition - domains and devices widgets instead of full Qubes Manager; devices widget support also USB
More flexible firewall interface for ease unikernel integration
Template VMs do not have network interface by default, qrexec-based updates proxy is used instead
More flexible IP addressing for VMs - custom IP, hidden from the IP
More flexible
[ Qubes OS full changelog ]