[tails-news] Tails 3.0 is out

We are especially proud to present you Tails 3.0, the first version of Tails
based on Debian 9 (Stretch). It brings a completely new startup and shutdown
experience, a lot of polishing to the desktop, security improvements in depth,
and major upgrades to a lot of the included software.

Debian 9 (Stretch) will be [released on June 17](https://lists.debian.org
/debian-devel-announce/2017/05/msg00002.html). It is the first time that we
are releasing a new version of Tails almost at the same time as the version of
Debian it is based upon. This was an important objective for us as it is
beneficial to both our users and users of Debian in general and strengthens
our [relationship with
upstream](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/relationship_with_upstream/):

* Our users can benefit from the cool changes in Debian earlier.
* We can detect and fix issues in the new version of Debian while it is still in development so that our work also benefits Debian earlier.

This release also fixes [many security issues](https://tails.boum.org/security
/Numerous_security_holes_in_2.12/index.en.html) and users should upgrade as
soon as possible.

# Changes

## New features

### New startup and shutdown experience

* _Tails Greeter_, the application to configure Tails at startup, has been completely redesigned for ease of use:

    * All options are available from a single window.
    * Language and region settings are displayed first to benefit our international audience.
    * Accessibility features can be enabled from the start.

This has been a long process, started three years ago with the UX team of
[NUMA Paris](https://paris.numa.co/) and lead only by volunteers. Join us on
[tails-ux@???](https://tails.boum.org/about/contact/index.en.html#tails-
ux) to participate in future designs!


* The shutdown experience has also been redesigned in order to be:

    * More reliable. It was crashing on various computers with unpredictable results.
    * More discrete. The screen is now totally black to look less suspicious.

Technically speaking, it is now using the [freed memory poisoning
feature](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/design/memory_erasure/) of the
Linux kernel.

### Polishing the desktop

* We switched to the default black theme of GNOME which has a more modern and discrete look:


* Tails 3.0 benefits from many other small improvements to the GNOME desktop:

    * _Files_ has been redesigned to reduce clutter and make the interface easier to use. Several new features have been added, such as the ability to rename multiple files at the same time and the ability to extract compressed files without needing a separate application.


    * The notification area has been improved to allow easy access to previous notifications. Notification popups have also been repositioned to make them more noticeable.


    * Shortcut windows have been added to help you discover keyboard shortcuts in GNOME applications.

For example, press Ctrl+F1 in _Files_ to display its shortcut window.

### Security improvements in depth

* Tails 3.0 works on [64-bit computers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/x86%2D64) only and not on 32-bit computers anymore. Dropping hardware support, even for a small portion of our user base, is always a hard decision to make but being 64-bit only has important security and reliability benefits. For example, to protect against some types of security exploits, support for the [NX bit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NX%5Fbit) is compulsory and most binaries are hardened with [PIE](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Position%2Dindependent%5Fcode) which allows [ASLR](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Address%5Fspace%5Flayout%5Frandomization).

[Check if your computer is 64-bit or
32-bit.](https://tails.boum.org/news/index.en.html#news-version-3.0.check)

1. Start any Tails version.

2. To open a terminal choose Applications ▸ Utilities ▸ Terminal.

3. Execute the following command to display system information:

            uname -m

    * If the output is `x86_64`, your computer is 64-bit and Tails 3.0 should work.

    * If the output is `i686`, your computer is 32-bit and Tails 3.0 will not work.

* Update _Tor Browser_ to 7.0 (based on Firefox 52 ESR) which is [multiprocess](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/Firefox/Multiprocess_Firefox) and paves the way to [content sandboxing](https://wiki.mozilla.org/Security/Sandbox). This should make it harder to exploit security vulnerabilities in the browser.

### Major upgrades to included software

  * Most included software has been upgraded in Debian 9, for example: 
    * _KeePassX_ from 0.4.3 to 2.0.3  
Your password database will be [migrated automatically](https://tails.boum.org
/doc/encryption_and_privacy/manage_passwords/index.en.html#migrate) to the new
format of _KeePassX_ 2.

    * _LibreOffice_ from 4.3.3 to 5.2.6
    * _Inkscape_ from 0.48.5 to 0.92.1
    * _Audacity_ from 2.0.6 to 2.1.2
    * _Enigmail_ from 1.8.2 to 1.9.6
    * _MAT_ from 0.5.2 to 0.6.1
    * _Dasher_ from 4.11 to 5.0
    * _git_ from 2.1.4 to 2.11.0

## Upgrades and changes

* The _Pidgin_ tray icon was removed from the top navigation bar and replaced by popup notifications.


* _Icedove_ was renamed as _Thunderbird_, its original name, inheriting this change from Debian.

* The search box and the search feature of the address bar of the _Unsafe Browser_ were removed. ([#12540](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/12540))

* The read-only option of the persistent storage was removed. It was used by very few users, created confusion, and lead to unexpected issues. ([#12093](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/12093))

## Fixed problems

* The new _X.Org_ display server in Tails 3.0 should work on more newer graphical hardware.

* UEFI boot has been fixed on some machines (ThinkPad X220).

* MAC spoofing has been fixed on some network interfaces (TP-Link WN725N). ([#12362](https://labs.riseup.net/code/issues/12362))

For more details, read our [changelog](https://git-
tails.immerda.ch/tails/plain/debian/changelog).

# Known issues

* Tails fails to start on some computers with [Intel graphical hardware](https://tails.boum.org/support/known_issues/index.en.html#xorg-driver).

* Some users have reported problems during the migration from _Icedove_ to _Thunderbird_, in particular that _Thunderbird_ doesn't start.

If this happens to you, please [send us a _WhisperBack_ report](https://tails.
boum.org/doc/first_steps/bug_reporting/index.en.html#whisperback) without
restarting Tails.

See the list of [long-standing
issues](https://tails.boum.org/support/known_issues/index.en.html).

# Get Tails 3.0

* To install, follow our [installation instructions](https://tails.boum.org/install/index.en.html).

* To upgrade, all users have to do a [manual upgrade](https://tails.boum.org/upgrade/index.en.html).

* [Download Tails 3.0.](https://tails.boum.org/install/download/index.en.html)

# What's coming up?

Tails 3.1 is [scheduled](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/calendar/) for
August 8.

Have a look at our [roadmap](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/roadmap) to see
where we are heading to.

We need your help and there are many ways to [contribute to
Tails](https://tails.boum.org/contribute/index.en.html)
([donating](https://tails.boum.org/donate/index.en.html#3.0) is only one of
them). Come [talk to us](https://tails.boum.org/about/contact/index.en.html
#tails-dev)!



URL: https://tails.boum.org/news/version_3.0/index.en.html