Linux Mint 22.1 Beta released with Cinnamon 6.4 desktop and lots of Wayland improvements

Linux Mint 22.1 is coming soon with a Beta release now available for testing, which includes the brand new Cinnamon 6.4 desktop release.

Cinnamon 6.4 has some pretty great sounding new features along with a new default theme. On top of that, they say it has "much improved Wayland compatibility". Finally, it looks like 2025 will be year of Wayland on the Linux desktop for sure.

Some fun additions this release include:

• Modernization of APT dependencies. Aptkit replaces aptdaemon, while Captain unifies the features of GDebi and apturl into a single, easy-to-use utility.
• Power Modes management.
• A fully integrated Night Light feature supported on Wayland and Xorg.
• A new default theme.
• Notifications can now appear above fullscreen windows (new setting).
• Nemo now has an option to disable auto-expanding of treeview columns during drag and drop.
• GWL (Global Window List) now includes an option to always show windows from other monitors.
• The Software Manager has been optimized for better speed, ensuring faster application browsing and installations.
• Wallpapers have been moved to themed sets, making them "easier to explore and more organized".

Linux Mint 22.1 will be a long-term support release with updates and security fixes until 2029. It features Linux kernel 6.8 and an Ubuntu 24.04 package base. New Mint releases until 2026 will continue using the same package base for simple upgrades.

See more in the announcement.