Less than a month after the previous 6.2 release, Tails 6.3 is out, much to the excitement of individuals passionate about online privacy. As an acronym for The Amnesic Incognito Live System, it is a Debian-based Linux distribution that helps users stay anonymous online.
Tails 6.3: Key Updates
The Tails 6.3 release has made several notable improvements, including restoring Romanian and Malayalam translations and making the system accessible to a broader user base. Additionally, users will benefit from the updated Tor Browser 13.0.15, which includes the latest security patches and feature improvements.
Moreover, in a critical response to a newly discovered security vulnerability (CVE-2024-4367) in Thunderbird’s PDF handling capabilities, Tails has temporarily disabled the PDF reader. This proactive measure addresses issues related to font handling that could compromise user security.
However, users can still view PDF documents safely using the Document Viewer, which is directly accessible from Thunderbird.
Another user-centric update in Tails 6.3 is the change in the automatic upgrade process. Now, the “Restart later” button will be the default option after an upgrade, allowing users more flexibility in managing their workflow and system restarts.
The update also resolves several problems that users faced in previous versions. One significant fix addressed the configuration issues of new printers when some printers had already been set up in Persistent Storage in Tails 5.23 or earlier.
Another improvement is eliminating the lengthy delay between the Welcome Screen and the GNOME desktop when MAC address anonymization fails, streamlining the startup process and enhancing user experience.
Those interested in the technical details and the complete list of changes can refer to the release announcement or visit the full changelog.
The process of upgrading or installing Tails 6.3 is straightforward. Automatic upgrades are available for users with Tails 6.0 or later installed on their USB sticks.
For new installations, detailed instructions are provided for Linux, Windows, and macOS users. It’s important to note that installing a new version instead of upgrading will result in losing all data stored in Persistent Storage on the USB stick.
