Among the highlights of the new Linux 3.4 are driver support for several new graphics cards as well as a new security module and numerous key updates to the Btrfs file system.

"I think the 3.4 release cycle as a whole has been fairly calm," wrote Torvalds in the release on Sunday. "Sure, I always wish for the -rc's to calm down more quickly than they ever seem to do, but I think on the whole we didn't have any big disruptive events, which is just how I like it."

The new Linux kernel now offers early support for Nvidia's GeForce 600 "Kepler" GPU along with AMD's new Radeon 7xxx and Trinity APU series. Experimental support for Intel's GMA500 graphics targeting smartphones is included as well.

The new "Yama" security module, meanwhile, joins several others that are already part of the kernel, including AppArmor, but adds a number of new systemwide security protections. Yama restricts the ptrace interface, for example, so that processes can't "see" each other's memory.