GNU Emacs 31.1 was released on August 24 and is available from official GNU mirrors in tar.gz and tar.xz formats with PGP signatures to verify download integrity [1, 2]. This new version enables mouse support for controlling Emacs in terminal by default through xterm-mouse-mode, improving user interaction without a graphical environment [3].
Emacs 31.1 introduces a new user-lisp/ subdirectory designed to better organize Emacs configuration files for users and developers [3, 1]. Additionally, child frames are now supported on text frames, allowing more flexible window management within the editor [3].
Buffers such as grep and xref now support editable modes, enabling users to modify their search and cross-referencing results directly inside the interface [3]. A new theme named newcomers-presets offers alternative default visuals that aim to be approachable and user-friendly for those new to Emacs [3].
Older features have been updated or removed: the Emacs dumper has been removed, and a 'Send to...' menu item has been added within context-menu-mode, offering enhanced menu options [1].
Users are provided with checksum files and instructions for verifying PGP signatures on downloads to ensure file authenticity and security [1, 2]. The upgrade can be accessed immediately from GNU mirrors, allowing users to adopt the enhanced features promptly.
