The Mint team did a research and figured out that many causal users recognize the importance of applying the updates, but since the OS doesn’t require them, they used to omit the update installation.
Statistics showed that Linux Mint users are often running outdated software, which could be no longer supported. Even worse, it could contain exploitable vulnerabilities.
To remedy the issue, a new pop-up has been created which lets the user know how many updates are available. It says also why updates need to be applied and lets users view available updates. In addition to, it gives users the option to turn on automatic updates.
It will appear in addition to the system tray icon and will attract users’ attention. By default the Update Manager also only counts security and kernel updates as being relevant for notifications. When a notification is dismissed it is snoozed for 2 days. Fortunately, the notification system is configurable and can be completely disabled.
The Mint team hopes the default settings will work well for most people and these notifications will be a useful positive experience. It is not yet clear whether the new notifications will arrive for Update Manager.
You can find out more detailed and complete information on the official announcement.
