The Samba suite is an implementation of Microsoft's SMB (Server Message Block)/CIFS (Common Internet File System) protocol that allows other operating systems to emulate or interoperate with Windows for the purposes of sharing files or printing.
"We have just uploaded the second technology preview of Samba 4," Samba developer Jelmer Vernooij said in an e-mail announcing the update early this morning (AEDT). The first preview of Samba 4 -- which mainly seeks to add support for Microsoft's Active Directory protocols -- was released in January.
Vernooij said the second test version of Samba 4 was aimed at "allowing users, managers and developed to see how we have progressed, and to invite feedback and support".
The development team has made more than 80 modifications to the software since the initial release, including better internal application programming interfaces and code quality in Samba's client-side application.
However, team warned against production use of the software at this stage. "We recommend against upgrading any production servers from Samba 3 to Samba 4 at this stage," it said in release notes for the software.
"If you are upgrading an experimental server, you should backup all configuration and data ... Samba 4 technology preview is not secure."
The upgraded Samba software can be downloaded here.