Here’s a summary of what’s new and important in Rufus 4.8, based on the provided article:
Key Changes & Improvements in Rufus 4.8:
- Major Speed Boost (WIMLIB Integration):
- Rufus now uses wimlib for all Windows Imaging (WIM) processing.
- This results in much faster image analysis when opening Windows ISOs.
- Especially helpful for users who regularly work with Windows installation files.
- The boost is most visible when creating Windows To Go drives, though overall speed depends on your USB drive’s quality.
- About wimlib:
- Open source and cross-platform library.
- Designed to create, extract, and modify Windows Imaging (.wim) files.
- Support for Large File Splitting:
- You can now split files over 4GB using the Alt-E key.
- Useful for handling larger Windows installation files.
- Note: The performance for this feature is still much slower than using UEFI:NTFS for similar tasks.
- Development Changes:
- Rufus binaries now built exclusively with Visual Studio (no more MinGW DLL delay-loading).
- Other Enhancements and Fixes:
- More exceptions for Linux ISOs (like Nobara, openSUSE) that only allow DD mode.
- Improved UEFI bootloader reports in the logs (including Secure Boot status).
- Fixed issues: uncompressed VHD write size limitations, log crash with 32-bit MinGW version, and command line parameter forwarding to the original Windows setup.exe.
- Download from the official Rufus website, Neowin’s software page, or the Rufus GitHub repo.
If you frequently prepare bootable Windows USB drives, updating to Rufus 4.8 will noticeably decrease the “waiting time” for ISO analysis and drive preparation.
If you’d like the full official changelog or a specific technical detail, let me know!
Source: Neowin Rufus 4.8 brings performance boost for Windows ISOs
