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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RandomizedKirbyTree47 2 days ago
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.Mint doesn't officially support KDE: they only offer Cinnamon, Mate, and XFCE.
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...
It's possible to install KDE on Mint, since Plasma and a bunch of other KDE packages are in the Ubuntu repository, and you could add them from Kubuntu's PPA if you want something more up-to-date. But that's going to be a lot more of a hassle than installing a distro that comes with KDE out of the box.
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Quoting: pleasereadthemanualI assumed that by "disabled" they meant they would show up in the list with a red no-no flag and if you look closer, a thing saying "You can't install this, it's disabled because we don't think it's safe. To enable untrusted Flatpaks, do thus-and-so."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.
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Quoting: RandomizedKirbyTree47That . . . would actually be fairly straightforward. Isn't Linux amazing?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.Mint doesn't officially support KDE: they only offer Cinnamon, Mate, and XFCE.
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...
It's possible to install KDE on Mint, since Plasma and a bunch of other KDE packages are in the Ubuntu repository, and you could add them from Kubuntu's PPA if you want something more up-to-date.
0 Likes
Caldathras a day ago
Quoting: pleasereadthemanualI really wish Mint shipped KDE as an optionI doubt that the Mint Team will ever bring KDE back into its rotation. As I understand it, the underlying development architecture of XFCE, MATE and Cinnamon has commonality, making it easier to develop Mint-specific assets for all 3 environments. KDE has gone its own way, making it too much work to maintain the common Mint experience in that environment. Hence, no Mint KDE.
For some (not suggesting this includes you), they believe it as simple as dropping the generic KDE Plasma DE on top of the Mint base and be done with it. It is not that simple. There are custom assets and tools that are needed to make it a Mint experience. Having been a Linux Mint user for 10 years now, I can tell that the Mint Team is committed to putting out a stable, consistent product amongst their 3 DEs and I, for one, appreciate that effort.
I do agree that it will be nicer to have a far more up-to-date kernel and I applaud their new kernel update strategy.
Here is the official announcement from the Mint Team on their decision regarding KDE: Linux Mint Blog Link
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Quoting: CaldathrasHere is the official announcement from the Mint Team on their decision regarding KDE: Linux Mint Blog LinkHuh. That post struck me as very classy. Gives a lot of kudos to the Kubuntu team and describes KDE itself as "a fantastic environment", and definitely strikes a tone of regret that because it's so different from the other environments they're working with Clem doesn't think it's feasible to do the whole "Mint" thing to it going forward.
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