OpenELEC 8.0 Linux Distro Released For PC, Raspberry Pi, WeTek Hub (betanews.com)

BrianFagioli writes: Today, popular Linux distro OpenELEC reaches version 8.0 stable. This operating system leverages Kodi to provide a well-rounded media center experience. Not only are there images for PC, but for Raspberry Pi, and WeTek boxes too.

'OpenELEC 8.0 release contains a Kodi major version bump. If you are updating from OpenELEC 7.0 or earlier we strongly recommend you perform a full backup before performing a manual update. If you experience issues please perform a soft-reset to clear OpenELEC and Kodi settings,' says Stephan Raue, OpenELEC.

Comments

So what are the benefits?

[petes_PoV]

I have read the information on the release page
It contains a long list of various stuff that has been updated from one version to another.
It adds some new drivers for a few bits and pieces
It changes from one database to a different one.

But nowhere does it tell me what wonderful new functions I would benefit from using if I installed this "feature" release. In fact, it doesn't mention any "features" at all. Just support for new hardware, which wouldn't be useful to people upgrading on their existing hardware.

If I (assuming I hadOpenElec installed on anything) was going to upgrade to this version, I would want to know what new things I would be able to use it to do. I would want to know what worked better, or faster. I would want to know how I would be more entertained, or find things easier, or become richer, or taller.

But these things, which I expect to be important, are not mentioned. Should I assume that there are some persuasive reasons to upgrade, or is this just a new release for its own sake?