Raspberry Pi OS gets a new kernel but apparently not a new version number is attracting attention across the tech world. Analysts, enthusiasts, and industry observers are watching closely to see how this story develops.
This update adds another signal to a fast-moving sector where product decisions, platform changes, and competition can quickly shape the market.
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 platform 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.
So what is new in the latest version of PiOS? Well, the kernel is now version 6.18 from November, which became the LTS kernel within days. By default, PiOS 6 uses the labcw Wayland compositor with some components drawn from LXDE, such as the panel and file manager.
This is in place of its old customized version of LXDE, formerly called PIXEL. This release includes labwc version 0.9.7, replacing version 0.9.2. You can still switch back to Openbox for an X11 desktop if you want, but this disables the Wayland-based Raspberry Pi Connect that was added a couple of years ago (and might yet make it over to Windows).
It has fresh icons for several apps, including LibreOffice, Geany, Xarchiver, the Eye of MATE image viewer, and the Recommended Software helper. PiOS still uses the LXDE file manager and some other components, and its own fork of the LXDE panel called lxpanel-pi, which can now display icons from "Small" (16 x 16 pixels) to "Very large" (48 x 48 pixels).
We upgraded a testbed Pi 5 from the January release, and it went smoothly with no apparent difference – and it still only takes about 560 MB of RAM under X11, which is very good for 2026. The new kernel means that some functions are slightly slower and some slightly faster, but you probably won't be able to tell. For the full lowdown, Linux news site Phoronix has extensive benchmarks.
We weren't expecting to get an update – it's been four years – but what would be great to see would be a new version of the Raspberry Pi Desktop, the edition for x86 PCs. The download is still there, and so is an old how-to guide. However, this is a very old version, based on Debian 11 – it's equivalent to PiOS 4 from 2022. We recently turned on an old machine with the PiOS Desktop: this version still works fine, and it picked up lots of updates from the Debian servers – but Debian 11 is approaching its fifth birthday and reaches the end of long term support on August 31, 2026.
The new Wayland-based PiOS desktop environment is one of our favorites: it's simple, clean, and fast. Back in 2022, we said it was the best way to revive an old PC. The sad thing is that it still is. It takes as little memory as, say, BunsenLabs Carbon or Crunchbang++, but it's a much more familiar desktop layout and easier to use.
Although the free update lifeline for Windows 10 that we reported a year ago just got extended for another year, it's still at the end of the line. Even if you opt for the LTSC edition that gets support until 2032, we are already seeing third-party apps complain about an end-of-life OS.
Windows 11 has inflated hardware requirements, and it's bigger and slower. It's not a realistic option for older kit that's still perfectly fast and usable. Not a single PC in this vulture's personal collection is officially able to run Windows 11. Meanwhile, RAM and disk continue to climb in price thanks to AI, and it's even getting more expensive to upgrade those older pre-Win11 PCs now. Even modern Linux wants more resources: the latest Ubuntu wants 6 GB of RAM or more.
There are lots of lightweight Linux distros out there. We still recommend Alpine Linux, but it needs some skill to install, especially if you want to dual-boot – it's harder than Arch Linux. Adélie Linux looks very promising but it's still in beta (there hasn't been a new release since we looked at it in late 2024). There are many others, but they're all rather specialist tools that need some Linux skills. The PiOS Desktop was by far the easiest.
The Linux world badly needs more lightweight distros that are ruthlessly easy to install – as the Raspberry Pi Desktop was. They need to offer a simple, quick, clean, Windows-like desktop – not something different for its own sake, like GNOME, or cluttered with myriad needless options like KDE Plasma. Something that will work happily on a 15-year-old PC with 3 GB of DDR2 RAM and a spinning disk – the sort of PC that still works fine, but would cost more to upgrade than the price of a Raspberry Pi 5. A distro that works happily on X11 would be a win, too, for old and unsupported GPUs.
The Raspberry Pi Desktop once fit that bill very well. The PC world could really benefit from a freshened-up version. If Mike Thompson and Peter Green from the original project are still around, they might even help. ®
Why This Matters
This development may influence user expectations, future product strategy, and the competitive balance inside the broader technology industry.
Companies in adjacent segments often react quickly to similar moves, which is why stories like this tend to matter beyond a single announcement.
Looking Ahead
The full impact will become clearer over time, but the story already highlights how quickly the modern tech landscape can evolve.
Observers will continue tracking the next steps and how they affect products, users, and the wider market.
