Tails 7.1 released with Tor Browser offline home page, updated core software, and more

Tails 7.1 is now available, continuing its focus on safeguarding users from surveillance and censorship. In this update, the Tor Browser within Tails now opens to an offline home page that matches the experience found in the Tor Browser outside of Tails, rather than relying on an online page hosted by the Tails' website. Additionally, the message that reads “Your connection to Tor is not being managed by Tor Browser” is no longer shown in new tabs, streamlining the user interface for those connecting through Tor.

Building on user experience improvements, Tails 7.1 refines the system prompt that appears when an administration password is needed to open an application and none was set during the welcome screen, providing clearer guidance for users in such scenarios. The release also brings updated core software, with the Tor Browser advancing to version 14.5.8, the Tor client to 0.4.8.19, and Thunderbird upgraded to 140.3.0, ensuring that users receive the latest security and functionality enhancements.

Finally, the ifupdown package has been removed from Tails 7.1, which may affect compatibility for some networking setups. These combined changes aim to improve privacy, usability, and system reliability across the Tails platform.