Linux 6.18 arrives with a few desktop tweaks, while the neglected x86 edition remains stuck on Debian 11
The distro formerly known as Raspbian has received some modest tweaks – and a whole new kernel version.Raspberry Pi Ltd is a little capricious when it comes to version numbering for Raspberry Pi OS, and although this release contains a fairly significant change, it doesn't seem to have a different version number. While PiOS is based on Debian 13 "Trixie," the company significantly customizes upstream Debian, including newer kernels.For 13 years now, Raspberry Pi has been adding new sections to the top of a single release notes file, which tells us that this build is dated 2026-06-18 and updates the kernel from version 6.12.75 to version 6.18.34. Even so, the version number on the splash screen is strangely unchanged. It remains at 6.2, which was the modest security update announced in April. Now there's a much bigger change – but no announcement and no new version number. So much for version numbers having meaning.
Another significant change is in the Mac version of the Raspberry Pi Imager. Buried in the release notes, the new Imager version 2.0.10 bumps the system requirements to macOS 13 or newer. Version 2.0.7 works happily on macOS 12 "Monterey," the latest that The Reg FOSS desk's 2015 iMac can officially run – but the newer release shows the crossed-out icon of an incompatible binary. We are not about to break out OCLP just to write a new SD card for a Pi.
