KeePass 2.50 significantly speeds up key derivation functions

The developer of password manager KeePass released KeePass 2.50 to the stable channel. The new version of the program significantly speeds up key derivation functions.

The new version of KeePass 2 comes days after the release of KeePass 1.40, which featured similar performance improvements among other changes.

Any KeePass 2 installation or portable copy can be upgraded to KeePass 2.50 using the provided password manager installation file or portable copy.

KeepPass 2.50

The performance of core components has been significantly improved in the new version:

• AES-KDF is “almost twice as fast” in the new version of Windows.
• AES-KDF is “about 4 times faster” in the new version on Linux systems, provided the libgcrypt library is installed.
• Argon2d and Argon2id are “about twice as fast” on Windows systems.
• Argon2d and Argon2id are “about 3 times faster” on Linux systems, provided the libargon2 library is installed.
• GZip decompression is faster if .NET 4.7.2 or higher is installed on Windows system; this improves opening databases, pasting entries from the clipboard, and other operations.

KeePass 2.50 improves support for certain browsers along with that. Improved detection of Brave, Epiphany, Pale Moon and Vivaldi browsers, Chrome and Chromium now appear as separate commands in the URL menu, and added opening URLs in private browsing mode in Pale Moon, Epiphany and Midori. On Unix-like systems, support was added to detect the latest versions of Chromium.

Imports from Bitwarden password manager include subfolders and collection names (such as labels) now in the latest version, and support for importing TXT files from Kaspersky Password Manager 9.0.2 has also been added.

The list of improvements is almost as long; many improve key handling in the password manager, for example, improved key file existence checks in the create/change master key dialog, improved handling of unique key providers, or access key enhancements.

You can check the full list of changes on the official KeePass website.

closing words

KeePass is an excellent password manager that is available for Windows and other operating systems through ports. The program is regularly updated with new features, improvements, and bug fixes.

You can check out my full KeePass review here. It has been my favorite password manager for years.

Now you: Do you use a password manager? If so, which one and why?

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