The Linux Mint community is starting the new year with some exciting announcements. The beloved Linux distro, known for its user-friendliness and reliability, continues to thrive thanks to its users’ overwhelming support.
The generosity of the Mint users has been overwhelming. In December, 751 donors contributed $24,146, and in January, 633 donors continued the trend. But far more important is something else.
The Future: Linux Mint 22 ‘Wilma’
The much-anticipated Linux Mint 22 has been officially codenamed ‘Wilma.’ This release is expected to be built on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, which is scheduled to be released in April. A sneak peek into its features reveals an innovative Nemo Actions Organizer for the Cinnamon edition.
This tool promises enhanced organization of Nemo actions into menus and submenus, complete with nested submenu support, menu icons, separators, and drag-and-drop functionality. Users can also look forward to customizing action names and icons, adding a layer of personalization to their experience.
Ease of Upgrade for 20.3’s Users
Users of Linux Mint 20.3 can now breathe a sigh of relief with the backported upgrade tool. This enhancement simplifies the transition from version 20.3 to 21, smoothing out the upgrade path and addressing the handling of orphan/foreign packages.
LMDE 6 Enhancements
Linux Mint 21.3 ‘Virginia,’ the latest stable release, was announced earlier this month. The upgrade path from versions 21, 21.1, and 21.2 quickly followed. Here’s our quick and easy-to-follow guide to help you upgrade if you’re still using them.
But what’s more important is that all new features from Linux Mint 21.3, such as the latest Cinnamon 6, have been backported to LMDE 6, ensuring that users of the Debian-based edition are not left behind in experiencing the latest improvements and functionalities.
Bug Fixes and Wayland Session Awareness
Linux Mint’s dedication to a smooth user experience was evident as they addressed and fixed several regressions that slipped through the BETA phase. These fixes include resolving issues with mintstick handling spaces in file paths, the Cinnamon screensaver in HiDPI settings, and session dialog windows for multiple users.
However, users of Linux Mint 20.3 employing Wayland sessions are advised to exercise caution. Recognizing potential impacts on Xorg sessions, the team recommends a reboot when switching back to Xorg from Wayland, emphasizing that Wayland’s support in 20.3 is still experimental.
For further details, please refer to the January report featured on the Linux Mint Blog.
The one thing that saddens me with many of these “updates” is that the default line keeps changing. IMHO, default is to make the first choice a constant that will occur without any input. AND, it does not keep changing – which is always incorrectly labelled as an improvement – because “they” think it’s better that way.
We used to have a “Show desktop” option alongside the menu, and also the ability to ungroup icons from the toolbar. These have been removed and the latter is now a major operation to restore.
I find it hard to believe that the “majority” of users would have “requested” these changes. Any major alterations like those is very MS in the way changes to the default are made.
There is a reason that Open Shell, which can modify the Windows Start menus to resemble the version that came with Windows 7, is so popular with Windows users. Not everyone loved their new default settings! Sadly we don’t have these options with Mint.
If we want to be the goto Linux OS for Windows escapees, we’re going to have to show them that we really are different in our attitude to “updates”. It would seem, again IMHO, that keeping a default standard and making the “improvements” optional a wiser course of action.
Nevertheless, I have been using Mint for many years and will [probably] continue to do so. It’s just a shame that Mint has taken this radical dictatorial road.