Samba 4.2.0 is the new stable version from the Samba 4.2 branch and is ready to be downloaded and used. The new Samba suite includes many improvements and fixes compared to its previous version. For those less on the subject, Samba is a free implementation of the Microsoft Windows CIFS file sharing protocol for UNIX-like systems. A) Yes, Linux computers, Mac OS X or any other * nix, can act as servers that interact with Windows machines and networks.
The free software Samba 4.2.0 has been Released March 4, 2015 and the developers are already working on the next trial version that we will be able to enjoy in the future. And another thing to keep in mind is that old versions of Samba 3 will be abandoned to focus on the latest versions.
Among the new features of Samba 4.2.0 include the possibility of transparent file compression in Btrfs, adds Snapper VFS module, security and usability improvements, Winbindd uses Samba AD DC by default, new features in the SMB2 protocol, DCERPC detection for “man in the middle” attacks, support for clustering, and a huge etc.
If you are interested in knowing more, you can access the official project website.