A patch has been queued into the x86/cpu Git branch for the upcoming Linux 7.0 kernel cycle, which enables Intel Transactional Synchronization Extensions (TSX) by default. This change applies to capable Intel CPUs that are not affected by side-channel attacks such as TSX Async Abort (TAA). For these newer, secure Intel CPUs, this default enablement "can mean better performance with the kernel defaults." TSX was previously often disabled by default in the kernel due to security vulnerabilities, but this update aims to leverage its performance benefits on compatible hardware.