In the ever-evolving world of enterprise Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) has long stood as the gold standard for performance, stability, and security. While RHEL 9 continues to dominate production environments, all eyes are now on the upcoming RHEL 10—the future of enterprise Linux. But how different will RHEL 10 be from its predecessor? What should system administrators, DevOps engineers, and IT architects expect?
In this blog, we’ll take a deep dive into the difference between RHEL 9 and the anticipated RHEL 10, based on current trends, Red Hat’s roadmaps, and upstream Fedora developments.
📌 Overview: Where Are We Now?
- RHEL 9 was officially released in May 2022, based on Fedora 34 and Linux Kernel 5.14.
- It brought improvements in security, containerization, automation, and performance, and set the stage for modern workloads.
- RHEL 10 is still under wraps but is expected to be released around late 2025 or early 2026, continuing Red Hat’s 3-year release cycle.
- While we don’t have an official changelog for RHEL 10 yet, insights from Fedora 40+, Linux kernel updates, and Red Hat Summit previews give us strong clues.
🔄 RHEL 9 vs RHEL 10: Feature-by-Feature Breakdown
1. 🔧 Kernel and System Architecture
| Feature | RHEL 9 | Expected in RHEL 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Kernel | Linux 5.14 | Likely Linux 6.6 or newer (stable LTS) |
| CPU Support | Modern x86_64 + ARM | Better support for hybrid CPUs, RISC-V |
| Systemd | Version 249+ | Newer systemd with better process control |
With RHEL 10, we can expect more advanced memory management, improved I/O throughput, and better performance tuning options tailored for cloud-native apps and AI/ML workloads.
2. 🔐 Security and Compliance
Security has always been Red Hat’s strong suit, and RHEL 10 is expected to double down.
| Feature | RHEL 9 | RHEL 10 (Expected) |
|---|---|---|
| SELinux | Enforcing by default, hardened policies | More fine-grained policy modules |
| System-wide Crypto | OpenSSL 3, crypto policies for FIPS, etc. | Zero Trust model, TPM 2.0 requirements |
| Confidential Computing | Limited (Intel SGX for some workloads) | Expanded confidential VMs, AMD SEV-SNP support |
| Security Profiles | SCAP, CIS benchmarks | Likely integration with Sigstore, Supply Chain Security |
3. 📦 Package Management and Repositories
| Feature | RHEL 9 | RHEL 10 (Expected) |
|---|---|---|
| Package Tool | DNF (YUM = symlink to DNF) | Likely DNF5 with faster dependency resolution |
| RPM Version | RPM 4.16+ | Possible shift to RPM 5 (or continued 4.x) |
| App Streams | Modular content delivery | Improved modularity or flatpak-style delivery |
DNF5 is a complete rewrite aiming to reduce install time, streamline operations, and improve API consistency.
4. 🐳 Containers and DevOps
| Feature | RHEL 9 | RHEL 10 (Expected) |
|---|---|---|
| Podman | Version 3.x (rootless containers supported) | Latest Podman with pod-level checkpointing |
| Buildah & Skopeo | CLI tools for building and inspecting images | Continued support, maybe Podman bundled |
| Kubernetes | OpenShift 4.x supported | Better k8s integration, GPU-aware scheduling |
| System Roles | 60+ Ansible roles | More automated RHEL management with AI suggestions |
Red Hat is expected to push GitOps and event-driven automation further with RHEL 10, making it easier to scale across hybrid environments.
5. 🌐 Cloud and Edge Computing
| Feature | RHEL 9 | RHEL 10 (Expected) |
|---|---|---|
| Hybrid Cloud | Azure, AWS, Google Cloud ready | Improved multi-cloud orchestration, better ARM edge support |
| Edge OS | RHEL for Edge (with OSTree) | Real-time edge OS, lower memory footprint |
| Container OS | Podman at the edge | Immutable OS variants (like Fedora Silverblue concepts) |
6. 💻 Desktop Environment (for Workstations)
| Feature | RHEL 9 | RHEL 10 (Expected) |
|---|---|---|
| GNOME Version | GNOME 40 (Wayland default) | Possibly GNOME 46+ with better Wayland support |
| Fractional Scaling | Supported but basic | Improved display scaling for HiDPI monitors |
| Developer Tools | GCC, LLVM, Python 3.9, etc. | Latest GCC, Python 3.12+, Rust 1.7+ |
While most enterprise users run headless servers, RHEL Workstation editions are widely used for engineering and data science tasks.
📈 Performance Improvements
RHEL 10 is expected to optimize:
- NUMA performance on multi-socket systems
- CPU scheduling for heterogeneous (big.LITTLE) architectures
- Reduced boot times for edge use cases
- Faster container lifecycle using updated cgroups and eBPF
🧠 AI & Machine Learning Support
RHEL 9 started supporting ML frameworks via containers and Python modules. RHEL 10 is expected to:
- Support GPU passthrough natively
- Offer tuned profiles for TensorFlow, PyTorch, etc.
- Integrate OpenVINO, ONNX Runtime, and ML inference optimization on edge
📅 RHEL 10: Release Timeline (Expected)
| Phase | Timeline |
|---|---|
| Fedora 40 Released | April 2024 |
| RHEL 10 Beta (Speculated) | Q4 2025 |
| RHEL 10 GA Release | Early to mid 2026 |
| Support Duration | Likely 10 years (2036 or 2045) |
💬 Final Thoughts
While RHEL 9 is still a rock-solid and future-ready platform, RHEL 10 will mark a paradigm shift toward cloud-native, AI-enhanced, and security-first Linux environments. It will bring smarter tooling, better performance, and deeper integration with emerging enterprise workloads like edge computing, confidential computing, and Zero Trust security models.
For now, staying updated with Fedora releases and Red Hat’s early-access programs is your best bet to prepare for RHEL 10. If you're building infrastructure that needs to last into the 2030s, keeping an eye on RHEL 10 should be high on your roadmap.
📣 Stay Tuned!
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🔍 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 vs RHEL 10: What’s Changing in the Next-Gen Enterprise OS?