Python 3.8.6rc1 is the release candidate of the sixth maintenance release of Python 3.8. Go get it here:

https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-386rc1/ https://www.python.org/downloads/release/python-386rc1/

Assuming no critical problems are found prior to 2020-09-21, the scheduled release date for 3.8.6, no code changes are planned between this release candidate and the final release.

That being said, please keep in mind that this is a pre-release and as such its main purpose is testing.

Maintenance releases for the 3.8 series will continue at regular bi-monthly intervals, with 3.8.7 planned for mid-November 2020.

What’s new?

The Python 3.8 series is the newest feature release of the Python language, and it contains many new features and optimizations. See the “What’s New in Python 3.8 https://docs.python.org/3.8/whatsnew/3.8.html” document for more information about features included in the 3.8 series.

Python 3.8 is becoming more stable. Our bugfix releases are becoming smaller as we progress. This one contains 80 changes, not even a half of what we got in 3.8.4 (the following release was a hotfix). Detailed information about all changes made in version 3.8.6 specifically can be found in its change log https://docs.python.org/release/3.8.6rc1/whatsnew/changelog.html#python-3-8-6-release-candidate-1.

We hope you enjoy Python 3.8!

Thanks to all of the many volunteers who help make Python Development and these releases possible! Please consider supporting our efforts by volunteering yourself or through organization contributions to the Python Software Foundation.

Your friendly release team, Ned Deily @nad https://discuss.python.org/u/nad Steve Dower @steve.dower https://discuss.python.org/u/steve.dower Łukasz Langa @ambv https://discuss.python.org/u/ambv