Linux Mint Xfce Edition

Linux Mint Xfce is a custom, community derived distribution of Linux that uses the lightweight Xfce desktop environment on top of the latest upstream version of Linux Mint, an Ubuntu-based operating system suitable for desktop computers of all sizes and shapes.

Distributed as a 32-bit/64-bit Live DVDs

The only way to test this Linux distribution is to download one of the two Live DVD ISO images, for 32-bit (i386) or 64-bit (amd64) hardware platforms. Then, you must burn the ISO image onto a blank DVD disc or write it on a USB flash drive of 2GB or higher capacity on order to boot it from the BIOS of a computer.

Boot options

By default, the Live DVDs will automatically start the live environment with default settings in 10 seconds if no keyboard key is pressed. You can access the boot menu by pressing any key on your keyboard during that timeout.

Default boot options include the ability to start the live environment with default options or in compatibility mode, check the integrity of the disc (only if using a DVD media), perform a system memory diagnostic test, as well as to boot an existing OS from the first disk.

Beautiful Xfce desktop presented in a traditional style with powerful apps

As mentioned, the default desktop environment of this Linux distribution is Xfce, which is customized to look like a traditional desktop with a bottom panel and a classic main menu. Default applications include the Mozilla Firefox web browser, XChat IRC client, Transmission BitTorrrent client, Pidgin instant messenger, Banshee audio player, VLC Media Player, and Mozilla Thunderbird email and news client.

Bottom line

The main purposes of this Linux Mint flavor is to promote the Xfce desktop environment and be usable on low-end machines, while transforming them into powerful workstations with a plethora of productive applications.

What is new in this release:

• Linux Mint 18 features Xfce 4.12, MDM 2.0, a Linux kernel 4.4 and an Ubuntu 16.04 package base.

What is new in version 18.2:

• Linux Mint 18 features Xfce 4.12, MDM 2.0, a Linux kernel 4.4 and an Ubuntu 16.04 package base.

What is new in version 18 / 18.1 Beta:

• Linux Mint 18 features Xfce 4.12, MDM 2.0, a Linux kernel 4.4 and an Ubuntu 16.04 package base.

What is new in version 18:

• Linux Mint 18 features Xfce 4.12, MDM 2.0, a Linux kernel 4.4 and an Ubuntu 16.04 package base.

What is new in version 17.3 / 18 Beta:

• Linux Mint 18 features Xfce 4.12, MDM 2.0, a Linux kernel 4.4 and an Ubuntu 16.04 package base.

What is new in version 17.3:

• Screen-tearing and window managers:
• The "Desktop Settings" tool now supports more window and compositing managers. Other than the traditional Marco, Metacity and Xfwm4 window managers, you'll find the following options...
• Openbox: A very fast and very light window manager.
• Compiz: One of the most visually impressive window manager available for Linux.
• Compton: A compositing manager which can be used in complement of Marco, Metacity, Xfwm4 or Openbox.
• A new help section was added to explain various concepts around window managers and compositing.
• Desktop Settings: A new help section, more compatible window managers, better compiz support, and compton integration to solve screen-tearing issues.
• Switching window-managers takes effect immediately so you no longer have to log out.
• Compton is now installed by default and configured to prevent screen-tearing. If you see a horizontal line when watching videos or playing games, simply switch to it and these issues should be gone.
• As for Compiz, it was already integrated in Linux Mint 17.2, but it got even better...
• Wobbly windows are activated by default (the reason Compiz was added was for the "wow" factor, so it may as well use with the most noticeable plugin of them all).
• Compiz profiles were moved to dconf (this solves an issue where changes to Compiz settings weren't recored on your very first session).
• Compiz profiles can be reset from the "Desktop Settings" tool. If you made a mistake or broke your Compiz configuration, there was no way of fixing it other than doing so manually... this is done by clicking the "Reset Compiz settings" button now.
• Virtualbox is now supported with Compiz.
• Finally, two new commands were introduced in Linux Mint 17.3:
• "wm-detect" to show information about which window/compositing managers are running.
• "wm-recovery" to recover and get back to the default window manager.
• Software Sources:
• Software repositories are very important. We use them all the time when installing new software or performing updates. They need to be fast and reliable. This was a major point of focus in the development of Linux Mint 17.3.
• Software repositories are mirrored (i.e. duplicated on many servers) all over the world. The main goal of the Software Sources configuration tool is to make it easy to find the best available mirror for you; one that is...
• Reliable and fully up to date
• Fast and responsive
• To find the fastest mirrors, the Software Sources tool now detects your location and starts its speed tests with mirrors near you.
• The Software Sources tool tests mirrors near you, with better accuracy than before and can now detect mirrors which are not up to date.
• Mirrors from your own country are tested first, then from neighbouring countries and finally from your sub-region and region of the world.
• Say you live in the Netherlands, mirrors are tested in this order: Dutch mirrors first, then Belgian and German mirrors, Western European mirrors next, and then finally mirrors from all over Europe.
• Speed tests are also much more accurate than before. They're performed one after another and on larger files (to get more precision while measuring speed).
• Finally, the Software Sources tool is more reliable than before:
• Even if a mirror is working correctly, the tool is now able to detect if its content is not up to date.
• PPA (Personal Package Archives) are now tested for compatibility.
• Update Manager:
• The Update Manager now also performs more checks than before.
• It warns you if the mirror you're using is not up to date...
• Obsolete mirrors are now detected.
• It prevents you from damaging the system if that mirror (or your local cache) is corrupted...
• The Update Manager protects against corrupted mirrors or cache.
• And it shows a little hint even when everything is fine if faster mirrors are available:
• The use of local mirrors is recommended.
• The local cache used to be refreshed every 30 minutes. It is now refreshed 10 minutes after you log in, and every 2 hours then after. Both settings are configurable.
• Driver Manager:
• The Driver Manager is more robust than before. It refreshes the cache before looking for drivers and reports update and installation errors if appropriate.
• Drivers are now sorted by status and the Driver Manager now indicates if drivers are Open Source or not.
• The Driver Manager features both UI and under-the-hood improvements.
• The Driver Manager now also loads much faster and detects drivers in the background.
• When a Broadcom chipset is detected, along with the recommended Broadcom STA drivers, the Driver Manager now also lists B43 installers (note that these options do require an Ethernet connection).
• Login Screen:
• HiDPI support was improved in the MDM display manager.
• Many HiDPI related issues were fixed, in particular with HD TVs plugged over HDMI.
• The way HiDPI support works in MDM was also redesigned. It used to double the pixel density on HiDPI displays and that sometimes resulted in a login screen that looked too big on some HiDPI monitors. It now works towards an ideal pixel density, so the scaling ratio isn't just 1x or 2x but an appropriate calculated value in between.
• The login screen features an on-screen keyboard and improved HiDPI support
• To improve the support for touchscreens and mobile devices, an on-screen keyboard was also added in the login screen. This keyboard is available for the default theme ("Mint-X") and it provides both common and special characters.
• System improvements:
• Xorg, Mesa and the Linux kernel were upgraded.
• In many cases, this improves hardware support. Imacs for instance no longer need to use nomodeset, scrolling is now functional on some Asus touchpads, suspending is much faster on macbooks...etc.
• Kernel 4.2.0 is also available in the repositories. However please be cautious with it if you are using proprietary drivers. At the moment, the following drivers are known not to work with it...
• fglrx (ATI/AMD drivers)
• ndiswrapper (Windows wireless drivers)
• Support for these drivers with kernel 4.2.0 should improve before February 2016.
• Artwork improvements:
• Linux Mint 17.3 features a superb collection of backgrounds from Calexil, Falcon Photography, Jan Kaluza, Jen K, Konstantin Leonov, Sezgin Mendil and Vinod Chandar.
• An overview of some of the new backgrounds
• All the backgrounds from Linux Mint "Qiana", "Rebecca" and "Rafaela" are also present.
• Other improvements:
• The welcome screen was redesigned slightly.
• LibreOffice was upgraded to version 5.
• The screen reader "Orca" is now installed by default.
• Input Methods are now handled by mintlocale, which replaces im-config in the menu.
• Inxi was upgraded and now supports multiple graphics cards.
• When using an encrypted home directory, memory swap is no longer encrypted by default and hibernation works out of the box.
• OpenVPN support is now installed by default.
• Main components:
• Linux Mint 17.3 features Xfce 4.12, MDM 2.0, a Linux kernel 3.19 and an Ubuntu 14.04 package base.

What is new in version 17.2:

• Xfce 4.12
• Software Sources
• Update Manager
• Language Settings
• Login Screen
• Better support for UEFI, NVIDIA and Optimus cards
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Other Improvements
• Main Components
• LTS Strategy

What is new in version 17.1 / 17.2 RC:

• Out of the box support for Compiz
• Xfce Improvements
• Update Manager
• Language Settings
• Login Screen
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Other Improvements
• Main Components
• LTS Strategy

What is new in version 17.1:

• Out of the box support for Compiz
• Xfce Improvements
• Update Manager
• Language Settings
• Login Screen
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Other Improvements
• Main Components
• LTS Strategy

What is new in version 17.1 RC:

• Out of the box support for Compiz
• Xfce Improvements
• Update Manager
• Language Settings
• Login Screen
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Other Improvements
• Main Components
• LTS Strategy

What is new in version 17:

• Update Manager
• Drivers Manager
• Login Screen
• Language Settings
• Software Sources
• Welcome Screen
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Main Components
• LTS Strategy

What is new in version 16:

• Xfce 4.10
• Whisker Menu 1.2
• Pulse Audio
• Login Screen
• USB Stick support
• Performance improvements
• Software Manager
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Main Components

What is new in version 15:

• Xfce 4.10
• Whisker Menu
• MDM
• Software Sources
• Driver Manager
• Software Manager
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Upstream Components

What is new in version 15 RC:

• Xfce 4.10
• MDM
• Software Sources
• Driver Manager
• Software Manager
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Upstream Components

What is new in version 14:

• Xfce 4.10
• Software
• MDM
• Software Manager
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Upstream Components

What is new in version 14 RC:

• Xfce 4.10
• Software
• MDM
• Software Manager
• System Improvements
• Artwork Improvements
• Upstream Components

What is new in version 9 RC:

• New Software Manager
• 30,000 packages
• Review applications straight from the Software Manager
• APT daemon
• Visual improvements
• New Backup Tool
• Incremental backups, compression, integrity checks
• Backup/Restoration of the software selection
• Better look & feel
• Backgrounds
• Welcome screen
• Update Manager
• New Thunar Move to Trash and Delete options
• System improvements
• Windows installer
• Husse quotes
• USB Creator
• Default software selection
• Local repository
• Apt hold/unhold/held commands
• Project changes
• Community Website
• Community Editions
• 32 & 64-bit
• Upstream improvements
• Faster boot
• Long Term Support