The Debian Installer team has just announced the third and likely final release candidate for the installer of the upcoming Debian 13, codenamed "Trixie". Since the final Debian 13 version will be released in only a few days (August 9, 2025), I guess this is the final RC.
What's New Debian 13 Trixie Installer RC3
This latest release, RC3, brings few important updates to make your installation experience even smoother.
For example, the choose-mirror tool, which helps you pick where to download software, now has an updated list of mirrors. This means you should find reliable download locations easily.
Furthermore, the debian-cd component has been tweaked. It now includes linux-image-powerpc64le-64k for ppc64el systems and excludes more unnecessary files to save space on the installation images. This helps make the download smaller and faster.
The Debian Installer itself has also seen its Linux kernel ABI bumped to 6.12.38+deb13, and it features improved "depthcharge" images.
Plus, the hw-detect part of the installer is smarter; it now avoids copying firmware files that are already built into the installer.
Debian 13 RC Journey So Far
The Debian Installer team has been working hard. Before RC3, they released Release Candidate 1 on 17 May 2025 and Release Candidate 2 on 2 July 2025.
Each release brought a host of improvements, from better hardware support to fixes for various installation quirks.
For example, RC2 improved Japanese rendering support, making the installer easier to use for more people. It also added support for Apple MTP and SPI Keyboards, found on newer Apple laptops.
Broad Language Support
Good news for users worldwide!
The Debian Installer for "Trixie" RC3 now supports 78 languages. Out of these, 32 languages are fully translated.
The Debian project's commitment make its operating system accessible to a global audience.
No Major Bugs Found (Yet!)
The team reports that there are no known major bugs in this RC3 release right now. However, they do have a dedicated "errata" page for any issues that might pop up.
Download Debian 13 RC3 Installer
You can find all the installation images, including netinst CD images, full CD/DVDs, and other images like USB stick versions, on the Debian Installer website.
You can also choose between the recommended Trixie RC3 release or weekly/daily snapshots.
After you've tried it, please remember to send an installation report, even if everything went perfectly. Your feedback is valuable to Debian developers to fix any major issues!
I have briefly tested Debian 13 on a virtual machine.
No issues so far! It's already quite stable. I hope it stays that way.
