Linux Mint is an open source project that provides users with a completely free and easy to use operating system based on one of the most popular free distributions of Linux, Ubuntu. It includes a plethora of applications for common daily tasks.
The best way to describe the Linux Mint operating system is to image a virtual container where we can install one of the Cinnamon or MATE desktop environments on top of a stable base of Ubuntu, and then add some tweaks and in-house built applications.
Linux Mint is known for being a very user-friendly distribution of Linux used by hundreds of thousands of people, especially those who hate the Unity user interface of Canonical’s Ubuntu operating system.
Distributed as 32-bit and 64-bit Live DVDs with Cinnamon and MATE editions
The project is distributed as separate Cinnamon and MATE editions, each one being available for download as Live DVD ISO images that can be deployed on both 64-bit and 32-bit architectures. Users can write the ISO images to USB sticks or blank DVD discs and boot the live environment from either one instead of installing it.
The boot medium has been engineered to boot automatically in 10 seconds, but advanced users can press any key to access the boot menu, which enables them to run a memory test or start an existing operating system from the local disk drive.
The same bootsplash software that is implemented in Ubuntu is also used in Linux Mint, but customized with the distribution’s logo. It is very important to mention here that both Cinnamon and MATE desktop environments are created by the Linux Mint developers.
Two amazing desktop environment and numerous attractive apps
While Cinnamon is a clone of the GNOME 3 desktop environment, the MATE project is a fork of the classic GNOME 2 desktop environment. Both editions include top-notch applications, such as Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, Banshee, VLC Media Player, LibreOffice, Pidgin, Transmission, GIMP, and Synaptic Package Manager.
Bottom line
Summing up, Linux Mint is one of the most popular free operating system in the world. Many Linux users preferred it instead of the Ubuntu OS, especially because runs very well on low-end machines and computers with old hardware components.
What is new in this release:
- Added OEM images
What is new in version 18.2:
- Added OEM images
What is new in version 18 / 18.1 Beta:
- Added OEM images
What is new in version 18:
- Added OEM images
What is new in version 17.3 / 18 Beta:
- Added OEM images
What is new in version 17.2:
- Added OEM images
What is new in version 17.1:
- Added OEM images
What is new in version 17.1 RC:
- Out of the box support for Compiz
- Update Manager
- Language Settings
- Login Screen
- System Improvements
- Artwork Improvements
- Other Improvements
- Main Components
- LTS Strategy
- Cinnamon 2.4
- Update Manager
- Language Settings
- Login Screen
- System Improvements
- Artwork Improvements
- Other Improvements
- Main Components
- LTS Strategy
What is new in version 17:
- MDM crash with non-xrandr compatible GPUs:
- On SIS cards or cards which were not compatible with xrandr, mdm crashed when scanning the available monitors and booting Linux Mint 17 resulted in a black screen.
- Dangerously ambiguous label could lead people to mistakenly wipe their hard drive:
- In the installer, when other operating systems were detected, the option to wipe the hard drive was ambiguously labelled "Replace $OS and install Linux Mint". Although this option warned about removing data, it led people to believe it would only delete partitions and data associated with the mentioned operating system.
- Driver Manager didn't handle missing firmwares correctly:
- The driver manager incorrectly assumed the user was running a manually installed driver when in presence of a device which required the installation of "linux-firmware-nonfree".
- Corrupted APT sources when / partition wasn't formatted:
- In the case where Linux Mint was installed over an existing / partition and this partition was not formatted, the installer used to call apt-clone and this resulted in corrupting the APT sources.
- Skype and some WINE or Steam games didn't work well out of the box
- Better out of the box experience for Steam, Wine, Skype, LibreOffice-base:
- A few additional packages were selected and installed by default, such as ia32-libs, libgl1-mesa-dri/glx, libreoffice-sdbc-hsqldb, to make it easier to run Steam or Wine games in 64-bit, to get better support in 32-bit applications such as Skype or to provide better support for LibreOffice Base.
- All level 1 updates were added:
- All the level 1 updates and bug fixes published since the official release a month ago were added to the new ISO images.
- Note to existing users:
- Although all these changes provide a smoother experience to newcomers. If you already installed Linux Mint and applied all level 1 updates, you do not need to reinstall it.
- Note also that the KDE and Xfce editions won't get respins as these issues either do not apply to them or were already fixed in time for their stable releases.
What is new in version 16 RC:
- Based on Ubuntu 13.10
- Linux kernel 3.11
- Cinnamon 2.0
- MATE 1.6
- MDM 1.4
- Login Screen
- USB Stick support
- Performance improvements
- Software Manager
- System Improvements
- Artwork Improvements
- Main Components
What is new in version 15:
- MDM
- Software Sources
- Driver Manager
- Cinnamon 1.8
- MATE 1.6
- Software Manager
- System Improvements
- Artwork Improvements
- Upstream Components
What is new in version 14.1:
- High CPU usage, low performance on Intel GPU:
- This was caused by a race condition between Plymouth and Xorg and affected owners of Intel cards in particular. Rather than using the "intel" driver, Xorg was randomly using "modesetting" or "fbdev" and the desktop was rendered by the CPU rather than the GPU using LLVMPIPE software rendering.
- This issue was fixed in MDM 1.0.8 which is available as an update in Maya backports and in Nadia and which is installed by default on the new ISOs.
- No DNS resolution, Internet not working in virtual machine:
- Linux Mint now uses OpenDNS as a fallback for DNS resolution. If the system fails to connect to a DNS server, the resolution is done via OpenDNS. This guarantees better out of the box connectivity especially in virtual machines.
- Installer fails to install grub-efi:
- A bug was fixed and the installer now successfully installs the grub-efi packages in EFI installations. You still need to disable Secure Boot and depending on the implementation of EFI on your system you might have to specify the location of the EFI boot file (EFI/BOOT/grubx64.efi).
What is new in version 14:
- Linux Mint 14 is the result of 6 months of incremental development on top of stable and reliable technologies such as MATE, Cinnamon and MDM. This new release comes with updated software and brings refinements and new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use.
What is new in version 14 RC:
- MATE 1.4
- Cinnamon 1.6
- MDM
- Software Manager
- System Improvements
- Artwork Improvements
- Upstream Components
What is new in version 11:
- One click install for multimedia codecs and extra applications
- The Software Manager:
- UI improvements
- New splash screen
- Fonts category
- More accurate package information
- More application icons by default
- More accurate search by default
- The Update Manager:
- Performance boosts
- Improved dependencies handling
- Better changelog retrieval
- UI improvements
- The Desktop Settings tool:
- "Desktop-agnostic", detection and upcoming compatibility with other desktops
- New setting for the fortunes in the terminal
- Artwork improvements:
- Backgrounds, overlay scrollbars, plymouth, Mint-X, search add-on.
- System improvements:
- new "apt download" command
- Adobe flash plugins
- Changes in the software selection
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