[tlug] Just curious... how much impact does a kernel update make?

[Dave M G <dave@example.com>]

TLUG,

Every now and again the Ubuntu update manager tells me there's a new 
kernel version, and I pretty much always upgrade.

But, it seems to me that I only really notice differences in things like 
Nvidia drivers, tablet drivers, Gnome interface changes, applications... 
Things more directly tied to specific tasks, hardware, or interfaces.

I mean, I'm sure the kernel is being improved upon, but it struck me the 
other day that I have no idea what is improving.

When a minor kernel upgrade happens, does that usually mean that they 
have implemented support for some hardware that I probably don't have? 
Has anything been made more efficient? Am I getting an improvement in 
stability or performance that is maybe too subtle for me to detect but 
is incrementally better than before?

How much change is really happening each time I update the kernel?


--
Dave M G
http://tlug.jp/mediawiki/index.php?title=User:Dave_M_G