Linux creator Linus Torvalds has released version 2.6.26 of the Linux kernel after a lengthy three-month development stretch since the 2.6.25 release involving nine release candidates.

In announcing the release on the Linux Kernel Mailing List, Torvalds said the 87 days since 2.6.25 makes 2.6.26 a longer-than-usual release cycle.

"Or maybe it just feels that way, and we're always getting close to three months these days," Torvalds said.

"But it's out there now. Or rather, the Git tree is out there, and the patch/tar-ball is still uploading as I write this."

Torvalds said the changes from release candidate (RC) 9 are small, with the bulk (80 percent) being documentation updates.

"The rest tends to be one-liners for some regressions or otherwise pretty small patches," he said. "Several regressions did get fixed in the last few days, thanks to everybody involved."

As expected with a three-month release cycle for a project as popular as the Linux kernel, there are quite a number of changes for 2.6.26, but most centre around architectural, I/O, and network driver enhancements, including wireless.

See the full changelog here for all the details.

A lot of work has also been done on virtualization support in the Linux kernel.

Expect to see Linux 2.6.26 making its way into the pre-releases of various downstream Linux distributions soon.