Linux Mint has released its regular monthly newsletter, and this time, we have some pretty exciting updates to share with you. First, the team has been hard at work rewriting the site’s backend and moving it into a containerized infrastructure.
Yes, this doesn’t make much difference for the end user since the front end stays the same. But it’s great that the project keeps up with modern trends.
Now, on to the big news that will excite all Mint users—a redesign of the Cinnamon app menu (with an expanded side panel) is on the horizon. Let me tell you, the early results are looking great!
While details remain fairly minimal at this stage, the initial screenshots hint at a modernized layout that looks quite promising.
Now, let’s move on to something interesting, especially for those who love to follow the numbers. The Mint project has revealed interesting insights about downloads over the last seven days, largely reflecting user trends regarding operating system usage. More specifically:
- Cinnamon: Roughly 60% of all downloads
- Xfce and MATE: Each at around 20%
As for the breakdown by release, Linux Mint 22.1 takes the top spot with a whopping 70%, followed by LMDE 6 at 14%, Mint 22 at 8%, and Mint 21.3 at about 8%.
Okay, so what are the key takeaways? In short, the stats confirm that many users continue to favor the latest versions, but they also highlight LMDE’s growing popularity among folks who prefer a Debian base.
As I’ve said many times before, it would be great if the main Mint’s offering at some point be switched from the current Ubuntu-based one to a Debian-based one. But, of course, that’s just my take.
Lastly, if you’ve been keeping up with previous announcements, you’ll know that Linux Mint 22.x won’t have an EDGE release. Instead, once Linux Mint 22.2 launches (probably around midyear), the distribution will move forward with an HWE (Hardware Enablement) kernel, offering improved support for newer hardware.
For more information, see the announcement on Mint’s blog.
Image credits: Linux Mint
Not crazy about the rounded corners and controls of the later releases of Mint. Too “Applish” for my taste. I prefer the “Craftsman” appearance of the Blue Joy theme in “Dark” scheme with Mate desktop.
Thing I wish was consistent across all Distros. Many Tech Enghusists have multiple Drive Computers and we distro hop a lot. Not all various Distros write their exact name into the Boot Menu. Many just give the name of the Drive or the Type of the Linux. I wish I could figure out how to teak the menu to show a more precise name. All suggestions welcome…..
Ahem…
1- I find that new menu ugly, it’s somethings like a “too much” and a bad taste enhancement. Who’s ask for this in the “community”? Anyway, I prefer the cinnamenu applet instead…
2- With the new version and the “Term of use” which allow the Mozilla Foundation (a google whore) to sell the users data it’s time to stop to keep silent about this issue (and many others) and ditch that Ff.Not a single word about the privacy issue in this february montly news. Why?
Too much complacent for the Windows nostalgic users?
Also. To install their new power management the last Mint update remove tlp from my computer with no warning. Nobody speak up, nobody care and they like the oversimplicity just good for the eternal windowZ newbies polluting the linux world. I’m fed up of this and I hope “the year of the Linux Desktop never happen.”
You know what, I’m using Mint since 10 years and I now I’m looking for another distro more aware of the privacy and give me the choice of my system configuration from the bottom to the top with teh command line.
I’m going in the direction of Arch (btw a Canadian invention).
And now bye bye 🙁
Don't worry, the year of the Linux desktop is never going to happen. First most computer manufactureres don't offer Linux, and those that do tend to be very high end and targeted at developers. Second Linux has no money for fancy commericals wit signing, dancing and butterflies fluttering away. So the majority of people stil don't even know Linux exists. Third people that learned to use a computer on Windows are bascially afraid to try Linux, and Windows fanboys also spread as much FUD as they possibly can on tech sites. Yet there are many good Distros not call Mint that don't cater to newbies from Windows. You could alway try one of those.Personally after using Mint with the Mate Desktop (my personal favorite) I switched to Ubuntu Mate and am much happier. It is community drive so lacks the more egarious and intrusive qualities of standard Ubuntu and I hate the Gnome3 desktop. Also the forum is much better if you have a problem.
I love Mint because it attracts a lot of users coming from Windows. I used it to enter the ‘Linux world’.I’m still waiting for a real Wayland working session, not an experimental one. Debian should be as user friendly as Mint.