NVIDIA has launched the 590.48.01 graphics driver, the first stable release in the 590 'New Feature' series for Linux, BSD, and Solaris systems. Following last week's 580.119.02 production branch, it enhances Wayland compatibility, Vulkan performance, and fixes bugs while raising minimum software requirements.
On December 18, 2025, NVIDIA announced the 590.48.01 graphics driver, introducing the first stable version of the R590 series for its GPUs on Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris platforms. Building on the prior 580.119.02 production release, it improves Wayland support by requiring version 1.20 minimum and fixing a PowerMizer preferred mode bug in nvidia-settings.
Vulkan apps see better swapchain recreation to cut stuttering on resizes, plus fixes for Venus VirtIO virtual GPU compatibility. Other fixes prevent PREEMPT_RT kernel freezes, correct DPI reporting on Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 monitors, and enable EGL multisample configs.
Minimums now include Xorg Server 1.17 (ABI 19) and glibc 2.27. Download 64-bit/AArch64 Linux binaries from NVIDIA's site or distro repos; FreeBSD (64-bit) and Solaris (32/64-bit) also supported.
As a 'New Feature' branch, it may have experimental features—not for production. Notably, it drops GeForce 10 Series support (e.g., GTX 1080 Ti to GT 1010) to focus on modern hardware.