You can help Tails! The first beta for the upcoming version 2.0 is out. We are very excited and cannot wait to hear what you think about it :)

  1. What's new in 2.0?
  2. How to test Tails 2.0~beta1?
  3. Known issues in 2.0~beta1

What's new in 2.0?

Tails 2.0 will be the first version of Tails based on Debian 8 (Jessie). As such, it upgrades essentially all included software.

The most noticeable change is probably the move to GNOME Shell, configured in Classic mode. This desktop environment provides a modern and actively developed replacement for the aging GNOME "Flashback". GNOME Shell also paves the way for better supporting touchscreens in the future.

Under the hood, an amazing amount of code was ported to more modern technologies. This, in turn, allowed us to do lots of small changes all around the place, that will make the Tails experience both safer, and more pleasant. For example, all custom system services are harder to exploit thanks to the use of Linux namespaces, set up by systemd. And the way Tails tells the user that "Tor is ready" is now more accurate.

But really, there are simply too many changes to describe them all here, so just try Tails 2.0~beta1 yourself!

Technical details of all the changes are listed in the Changelog.

There is only one piece of bad news, that makes us a bit sad, though: we had to remove the Windows camouflage feature, since our call for help to port it to GNOME Shell (issued in January, 2015) was unsuccessful.

How to test Tails 2.0~beta1?

  1. Keep in mind that this is a test image. We have ensured that it is not broken in any obvious way, but it might still contain undiscovered issues.

  2. Download the ISO image and its signature:

    Tails 2.0~beta1 ISO image

    Tails 2.0~beta1 signature

    Note that there is no automatic upgrade applicable to this release.

  3. Verify the ISO image.

  4. Have a look at the list of known issues of this release and the list of longstanding known issues.

  5. Test wildly!

If you find anything that is not working as it should, please report to us on tails-testers@boum.org.

Bonus points if you first check if it is a known issue of this release or a longstanding known issue.

Known issues in 2.0~beta1

  • The documentation was not adjusted yet.

  • The Electrum Bitcoin client is not functional (#10754).

  • The network is sometimes not unblocked after logging in (#9012). If this happens to you, please send intrigeri@boum.org the complete output of the sudo tails-debugging-info command.

  • The Dotfiles persistence feature does not work correctly (#10784).

  • Default file associations are missing (#10798).

  • It is not possible to re-configure an existing persistent volume using the persistent volume assistant (#10809). However, it is possible to use an existing persistent volume, and to create a new one.

  • Longstanding known issues