TL;DR: Linux kernel 7.3 was released by Linus Torvalds on October 18, 2026, and it’s a record: 18,765 non-merge commits from 3,021 developers, 807 of them first-time contributors. Headline features include the new failfs filesystem for sandboxing, the fchroot() system call, finished sched_ext sub-schedulers, VM working-set tracking, NTFS3 alternate data streams, Apple Time Machine support in the kernel’s SMB server, Rust on PowerPC, and better VRAM handling for low-memory GPUs. Most users should wait for their distribution to ship it. Linux 7.4’s merge window is now open, with a final release expected around Christmas.
The Linux kernel 7.3 release is out, and on the numbers it’s the biggest development cycle the kernel has had. Torvalds announced it on Sunday, joking that he’d “kept my wits together long enough to keep track of the day of the week, so the release isn’t randomly delayed.” Below is what’s new, who benefits, and when you’ll actually get it.
Linux kernel 7.3 by the numbers
| Metric | Linux 7.3 |
|---|---|
| Release date | October 18, 2026 |
| Non-merge commits | 18,765 |
| Developers | 3,021 |
| First-time contributors | 807 |
| Next version | Linux 7.4 (merge window opened October 19) |
LWN.net called the release “a record-breaker on all fronts,” and Linuxiac notes that all three contributor figures are records. Torvalds described the final week as uneventful and said he would spend the first day of the 7.4 merge window “on a boat and under water” during his annual family vacation.
The biggest new features
failfs and fchroot(): new sandboxing tools
The oddest-sounding addition is also one of the most practical. failfs is a small pseudo-filesystem that deliberately fails every operation. That sounds useless until you need to lock a process out of part of the filesystem: mount failfs over a path and every access there fails cleanly. 9to5Linux describes it as a new sandboxing mechanism based on a pseudo-file system.
Alongside it, the new fchroot() system call lets a process change its root directory using a file descriptor instead of a path name. That’s handy for container runtimes and sandboxes that want to avoid path-based race conditions.
Scheduler work: sched_ext sub-schedulers and faster group scheduling
Linux 7.3 completes the sub-scheduler feature in sched_ext, the framework that lets developers write custom CPU scheduling policies as BPF programs. Cgroups can now get their own sub-schedulers, which matters for specialized workloads such as gaming, low-latency audio or large server fleets. The group-scheduling code was also reworked to cut overhead and distribute CPU time more fairly among process groups, especially on large systems.
Filesystems and storage
- NTFS3: initial support for Windows alternate data streams, useful for dual-boot users and anyone working with Windows-formatted drives.
- OverlayFS: id-mapped mounts, which make file ownership easier to manage in containers.
- Btrfs and ext4: performance improvements. Btrfs also drops its legacy free-space cache v1.
- FUSE: more zero-copy I/O through io_uring, which means less unnecessary data copying.
- F2FS: can now dynamically remove partitions from a filesystem’s pool.
- NFS server: support for directory delegations.
SMB server: Time Machine and per-share encryption
The kernel’s built-in SMB server, ksmbd, gains support for Apple Time Machine backups, per-share SMB3 encryption and encryption for SMB Direct (RDMA) connections. For anyone running a Linux NAS for Macs, Time Machine support is the feature that will get noticed.
Virtualization and memory
Through userfaultfd, Linux 7.3 can now track which memory pages a virtual machine guest is actively using, its “working set.” Hosts can use that to make better memory decisions. The DAMON monitoring subsystem gains data-attributes-only monitoring, the swap subsystem gets improvements, and BPF programs can now use global per-CPU data.
Security
- A new sysctl knob to regulate user-space access to the
AF_ALGcrypto API. - Compressed policy support in AppArmor.
- Tighter verification of signed BPF programs.
- Landlock can now set the “no new privileges” flag for the calling process.
What gamers and laptop owners get
For desktop users, the most noticeable change may be improved VRAM management on GPUs with limited video memory. Linuxiac says it particularly helps AMD cards that run out of VRAM under pressure. Hardware support also expands, according to 9to5Linux and Linuxiac:
- More preparation for AMD Zen 6 processors and further Intel graphics work, including upcoming Nova Lake GPUs.
- Support for the new Steam Controller, the Adreno A704 GPU, Intel UFS 4.0 HS-Gear5 storage and the Zenbook A16 keyboard.
- Audio and networking fixes for laptops from Acer, ASUS, HP, Huawei, Lenovo and Minisforum, including the ThinkPad X1 Carbon 6th Gen and HP Spectre x360 16.
- Updates for Realtek wireless adapters, gaming handhelds, and ARM and RISC-V platforms.
Rust in the kernel continues to grow, with new abstractions and initial support for PowerPC.
Should you install Linux 7.3 now?
| If you use… | What to do |
|---|---|
| Arch, openSUSE Tumbleweed or another rolling distro | Expect 7.3 in the stable repos soon. Rolling-release distributions usually adopt new kernels first. |
| Fedora | Fedora typically moves to new kernels after a few point releases. |
| Ubuntu, Debian or Linux Mint LTS | Stay on your distribution’s kernel unless you need specific new hardware support. |
| Servers in production | Test first. Evaluate sched_ext and failfs in staging before rolling out. |
You can download the source from kernel.org and compile it yourself, but 9to5Linux, like most kernel watchers, recommends waiting for your distro’s packaged build. If you do update and something breaks on boot, your bootloader menu should still list the previous kernel.
What’s next: Linux 7.4
The Linux 7.4 merge window opened on October 19. 9to5Linux expects the first release candidate around November 1 and a final release in late December, possibly on Christmas Day 2026. Some readers hope 7.4 becomes the year’s long-term support (LTS) kernel, but no LTS designation has been announced.
Running Windows alongside Linux? Our guides to flushing the DNS cache on Windows 11 and fixing Windows 11 freezing randomly cover the other side of a dual-boot setup.
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