Kali Linux 2016.2 Released — KDE, MATE, LXDE, Xfce, And e17 Flavours Available

Short Bytes: Developers of Kali Linux, one of the best ethical hacking distribution, have announced the second rolling release i.e. Kali Linux 2016.2. Apart from GNOME, this release comes in additional desktop environments–KDE, MATE, Xfce, LXDE, and e17. To keep Kali Linux bleeding edge, from now on, weekly updated ISOs of Kali Linux will also be released.

Earlier this year, we saw the first Rolling Release of Kali Linux. This change was made to ensure that ethical hackers and pen testers are able to get their hands on the latest and best tools. That release also changed the way VMware guest tools were installed and added a Kali Linux Package Tracker Tool.

Now, the developers of Kali Linux ethical hacking distro are here with the second Kali Rolling ISO release i.e. Kali 2016.2. Just like the previous one, Kali promises to deliver lots of new updates and changes in this release. Over the course of past few months, Kali developers have been busy adding new tools to Kali and fixing multiple bugs. For example, they have added HTTPS support in busybox that allows secure installation over SSL.

Keeping Kali Linux bleeding edge with weekly ISOs

The announcement post for Kali 2016.2 says that since their last release was several months ago, there are few hundred new and updated packages. So, to avoid this situation, Kali developers have decided to release updated weekly builds of Kali Linux. This way, you can download updated Kali images and avoid the hassle of a long “apt-get dist-upgrade” session.

Kali Linux developers have also announced that Kali ‘Sana’ repositories are finally retiring from the servers.

New desktop environment flavored ISOs — KDE, MATE, LXDE, Xfce, e17

Kali Linux provides you the flexibility to install your favorite desktop environment and personalizing your experience. However, Kali developers note that users often talk about how they would love to see another desktop environments instead of GNOME.

With the Kali Linux 2016.2 release, you can download your favorite ethical hacking distro in additional desktop flavors like KDE, MATE, LXDE, Xfce, and e17. It should be noted that these flavors are only available as 64-bit releases.

Here are the screenshots of different desktop environments: