You can help Tails by testing the second beta for the upcoming version 4.0!

We are very excited about it and cannot wait to hear your feedback :)

  1. What's new in 4.0~beta2?
  2. Known issues in 4.0~beta2
  3. How to test Tails 4.0~beta2?
  4. Get Tails 4.0~beta2
  5. What's coming up?

What's new in 4.0~beta2?

Tails 4.0 will be the first version of Tails based on Debian 10 (Buster). As such, it upgrades essentially all included software.

We are particularly interested in detecting new problems with the following hardware:

  • Mac computers
  • Recent Nvidia and ATI/AMD graphics cards

Other changes in Tails 4.0~beta2 include:

  • All changes included in 4.0~beta1.

  • All changes included in Tails 3.16.

  • Update Linux to 5.2.9. This mitigates the Spectre v1 swapgs security vulnerability.

  • Update tor to 0.4.1.5.

  • Update Enigmail to 2.0.12.

  • Make the GNOME Desktop load faster.

  • Save about 250 MB of RAM.

  • In the Applications menu, move Calculator and Terminal to where they were in Tails 3.x. This avoids the need to scroll in the Utilities submenu.

  • Allow OnionShare to open links with Tor Browser.

  • Use the same icon for Tails Documentation in the Applications menu as on the Desktop.

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

Known issues in 4.0~beta2

How to test Tails 4.0~beta2?

We will provide security upgrades for Tails 4.0~beta2 like we do for regular versions of Tails.

Keep in mind that this is a test image. We tested that it is not broken in obvious ways, but it might still contain undiscovered issues.

Please, report any new problem to tails-testers@boum.org (public mailing list).

Get Tails 4.0~beta2

To download 4.0~beta2

Direct download

  • For USB sticks (USB image) (OpenPGP signature)

  • For DVDs and virtual machines (ISO image) (OpenPGP signature)

BitTorrent download

  • For USB sticks (USB image)

  • For DVDs and virtual machines (ISO image)

To upgrade your Tails USB stick and keep your Persistent Storage

  • Automatic upgrades are available from 4.0~beta1.

  • You can do a manual upgrade.

To install Tails on a new USB stick

Follow our installation instructions:

  • Install from Windows
  • Install from macOS
  • Install from Linux

All the data on this USB stick will be lost.

What's coming up?

Tails 4.0 is scheduled for October 22.

We need your help and there are many ways to contribute to Tails (donating is only one of them). Come talk to us!