Linux Mint 22 'Wilma' has a first Beta release available for testing, built on top of Ubuntu 24.04 it will be supported until 2029. With this being a Beta it's not recommended for everyone, only if you wish to test for issues and help get it primed for the full release that's likely due either late this month or early August.
A pretty big upgrade overall. Thanks to the jump in the Ubuntu package base it's using, with kernel version 6.8 along with Pipewire by default. With the newer kernel, you'll get support for newer hardware too.
Pictured - Linux Mint 22 'Wilma' Beta with the Cinnamon desktop
Some of what to expect from it includes:
- Better language support.
- Thunderbird as a .deb package supported by Mint, instead of Ubuntu's Snap.
- Big improvements to the Software Manager:
- Improved multi-threading, a new preferences page and a banner slideshow.
- Verified Flatpaks show the maintainer name.
- Unverified Flatpaks disabled by default (and clearly marked if enabled).
- Various artwork improvements.
- HiDPI support improvements were made in the boot sequence, in Plymouth and Slick-Greeter.
- A new Matrix Web App for chat, replacing Hexchat.
Plus there's lots of updates to the Cinnamon 6.2 desktop too including:
- Less printer added notifications (silenced for 2 hours).
- Wayland support: Clutter polkit agent.
- Spices: keybindings support.
- Better avatar support in polkit agent and user applet.
- Workspace switcher: middle click removes the workspace being hovered.
- Keybindings: ability to search by binding.
- Cornerbar applet: shift+click action added.
- Applets: improved precision in reporting VPN and battery states.
See more on the release notes and what's new.
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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cameronbosch Jul 2
QuoteUnverified Flatpaks disabled by default (and clearly marked if enabled).
They also are removing reviews for unverified Flatpaks. I don't think this is a good decision, because aren't deb packages unverified? 😂
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Quoting: cameronboschWell, most .debs you install will be included by either Ubuntu (Canonical) or the Mint team. They can't control the ones you download externally. But this is about clearly showing what's available directly via Flathub, inside their software app, so it makes sense to do so.QuoteUnverified Flatpaks disabled by default (and clearly marked if enabled).
They also are removing reviews for unverified Flatpaks. I don't think this is a good decision, because aren't deb packages unverified? 😂
4 Likes, Who?
Kimyrielle Jul 2
I used Mint years ago before switching to Ubuntu. Funnily enough the only reason for me doing that was that I had new hardware back then not yet supported by Mint, but Ubuntu did. I am thinking of going back to it, as I am tired of surgically removing an increasing number of snaps with every new release. I really don't like snap.
Not sure I want to use Cinnamon again though, despite its their main selling point. In the meantime, KDE really grew on me, so I guess I need to find it how well Mint supports it...
Not sure I want to use Cinnamon again though, despite its their main selling point. In the meantime, KDE really grew on me, so I guess I need to find it how well Mint supports it...
1 Likes, Who?
Linux_Rocks Jul 2
5 Likes, Who?
I love Mint Xfce, myself* - it's on several machines in my fleet (listed in profile), and it gets better all the time. 
Looking forward to when this version is finalised, as always!
*Cinnamon is nice, but it's not quite for me!
Last edited by Pengling on 2 July 2024 at 5:55 pm UTC
Looking forward to when this version is finalised, as always!*Cinnamon is nice, but it's not quite for me!
Last edited by Pengling on 2 July 2024 at 5:55 pm UTC
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Quoting: KimyrielleI used Mint years ago before switching to Ubuntu. Funnily enough the only reason for me doing that was that I had new hardware back then not yet supported by Mint, but Ubuntu did. I am thinking of going back to it, as I am tired of surgically removing an increasing number of snaps with every new release. I really don't like snap.I'm old fashioned, and not minimalist, so I use Mate. It's comfy.
Not sure I want to use Cinnamon again though, despite its their main selling point. In the meantime, KDE really grew on me, so I guess I need to find it how well Mint supports it...
But I do sometimes think it would be nice to test out KDE, and it doesn't seem like Mint supports it much at all. I'm sure you could install it, but it'd probably be a tad rough around the edges.
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Cloversheen Jul 2
Quoting: Purple Library GuyI'm old fashioned, and not minimalist, so I use Mate. It's comfy.Mate sure is comfy, I used to run Gnome 2 with OpenBox back in the day as my main environment, sometimes XFCE+OpenBox as well. Good times.
But I do sometimes think it would be nice to test out KDE, and it doesn't seem like Mint supports it much at all. I'm sure you could install it, but it'd probably be a tad rough around the edges.
Last edited by Cloversheen on 2 July 2024 at 8:17 pm UTC
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pleasereadthemanual Jul 3
It's nice to see Mint continue to make progress with Wayland and finally ship a modern kernel. That's the biggest problem with Mint; that its default ISO doesn't support new hardware and gives new users a bad experience as a result, especially with AMD GPUs they were told are better than NVIDIA GPUs by all their proselyting Linux friends.
On that note, I really wish Mint shipped KDE as an option. XFCE, MATE, and Cinnamon are all still firmly on X11 even if they are all making fantastic progress with their Wayland versions (and actually, I think MATE + XFCE are much further ahead than Cinnamon in that respect). Without that, you miss very important features like fractional scaling when you have multiple monitors, or (less important) trackpad gestures you can use in Firefox on your laptop.
KDE has the most advanced support for Wayland on Linux right now, and I think Mint and KDE can find a lot of common ground aside from that, so focusing on shipping a KDE session makes sense to me. Especially because, while Wayland is very competitive with X11 in mature compositors like Mutter and KWin, all that stuff needs to be implemented anew in Cinnamon and it's a ton of work. KDE can be overwhelming in some ways to new users (it certainly was for me), though, so that's probably one of the reasons.
But Cinnamon the desktop is something unique that really is Mint's identity. It's as friendly as GNOME while being more familiar. It'd be nice to see a fully-functioning Wayland version of Cinnamon in the future.
Mint is clearly moving forward and embracing more modern technologies (their support for Flatpak is evidence enough of that), but I worry their (carefully-considered) pace might be too slow if the ecosystem moves on before them. I don't think they'll be too far behind, though.
Overall I think it's the right thing to do.
Last edited by pleasereadthemanual on 3 July 2024 at 12:46 am UTC
On that note, I really wish Mint shipped KDE as an option. XFCE, MATE, and Cinnamon are all still firmly on X11 even if they are all making fantastic progress with their Wayland versions (and actually, I think MATE + XFCE are much further ahead than Cinnamon in that respect). Without that, you miss very important features like fractional scaling when you have multiple monitors, or (less important) trackpad gestures you can use in Firefox on your laptop.
KDE has the most advanced support for Wayland on Linux right now, and I think Mint and KDE can find a lot of common ground aside from that, so focusing on shipping a KDE session makes sense to me. Especially because, while Wayland is very competitive with X11 in mature compositors like Mutter and KWin, all that stuff needs to be implemented anew in Cinnamon and it's a ton of work. KDE can be overwhelming in some ways to new users (it certainly was for me), though, so that's probably one of the reasons.
But Cinnamon the desktop is something unique that really is Mint's identity. It's as friendly as GNOME while being more familiar. It'd be nice to see a fully-functioning Wayland version of Cinnamon in the future.
Mint is clearly moving forward and embracing more modern technologies (their support for Flatpak is evidence enough of that), but I worry their (carefully-considered) pace might be too slow if the ecosystem moves on before them. I don't think they'll be too far behind, though.
QuoteUnverified Flatpaks disabled by default (and clearly marked if enabled).It would be nice if the search results contained a note like "15 Unverified Flatpak packages were removed from these results." at the top/bottom. If anyone is familiar with Google's DMCA notices, that's what I'm looking to as prior art.
Overall I think it's the right thing to do.
Last edited by pleasereadthemanual on 3 July 2024 at 12:46 am UTC
4 Likes, Who?
Quoting: KimyrielleI used Mint years ago before switching to Ubuntu. Funnily enough the only reason for me doing that was that I had new hardware back then not yet supported by Mint, but Ubuntu did. I am thinking of going back to it, as I am tired of surgically removing an increasing number of snaps with every new release. I really don't like snap.Then perhaps give TuxedoOS a try, which next to Linux Mint is my recommendation for beginners.
Not sure I want to use Cinnamon again though, despite its their main selling point. In the meantime, KDE really grew on me, so I guess I need to find it how well Mint supports it...
This is simply Ubuntu LTS with Flatpak instead of Snaps and up-to-date KDE Plasma as the Desktop.
Unfortunately the default theming is pretty hideous, but this is easy to revert to Breeze or something different in casr you dislike the new flatter look (as I do).
While my main systems run Garuda Linux, with the theme changed of course, my emerciency bootable USB-stick runs TuxedoOS and it has been extremely solid there.
1 Likes, Who?
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