The release of the Linux Mint 21.1 distribution is presented, which continues the development of the branch based on the Ubuntu 22.04 LTS package base. The distribution is fully compatible with Ubuntu, but differs significantly in the approach to organizing the user interface and the selection of applications used by default. Linux Mint developers provide a desktop environment that follows the classic canons of desktop organization, which is more familiar to users who do not accept the new GNOME 3 interface building methods. DVD builds based on MATE 1.26 (2.1 GB), Cinnamon 5.6 ( 2.1 GB) and Xfce 4.16 (2 GB). Linux Mint 21 is classified as a Long Term Support (LTS) release, with updates for it until 2027.
Main changes in Linux Mint 21.1 (MATE, Cinnamon, Xfce):
- The composition includes a new release of the Cinnamon 5.6 desktop environment, the design and organization of work in which continues the development of the ideas of GNOME 2 - the user is offered a desktop and a panel with a menu, a quick launch area, a list of open windows and a system tray with running applets. Cinnamon is based on GTK and GNOME 3 technologies. The project evolves the GNOME Shell and the Mutter window manager to provide a GNOME 2-style environment with a more modern look and elements from the GNOME Shell, complementing the classic desktop experience. The Xfce and MATE desktop editions ship with Xfce 4.16 and MATE 1.26.
Major changes in Cinnamon 5.6:
- The Corner bar applet has been added, which is located on the right side of the panel and replaced the show-desktop applet, instead of which there is now a separator between the menu button and the task list.
The new applet allows you to bind your actions to pressing different mouse buttons, for example, you can display the contents of the desktop without windows, show desklets, or call interfaces for switching between windows and virtual desktops. Placement in the corner of the screen makes it easier to position the mouse pointer on the applet. The applet also makes it possible to quickly place files on the desktop, no matter how many windows are open, by simply dragging and dropping the necessary files into the applet area.
- In the Nemo file manager, in the file list view mode with the display of icons for selected files, now only the name is highlighted, and the icon remains as it is.
- Icons representing the desktop are now rotated vertically.
- The Nemo file manager has improved the implementation of the line with the file path. Clicking on the current path now switches the panel to location entry mode, and further directory navigation returns the original panel. Dates are displayed in a monospaced font.
- In the context menu shown when you right-click on the desktop, an item has been added to go to the display settings.
- A search field has been added to the keyboard shortcut settings.
- Favorite applications are divided into categories.
- Provided the ability to configure the duration of notifications.
- Added keyboard shortcuts to the inhibit applet for toggling notifications and power management.
- Theme lists are sorted to separate dark, light, and legacy themes.
- Window placement mode has been returned, which was removed during the mutter rework in Cinnamon 5.4.
- The Corner bar applet has been added, which is located on the right side of the panel and replaced the show-desktop applet, instead of which there is now a separator between the menu button and the task list.
- By default, the icons "Home", "Computer", "Trash" and "Network" are hidden on the desktop (you can return them through the settings). The "Home" icon has been replaced by a button in the panel and a favorites section in the main menu, while the "Computer", "Trash" and "Network" icons are rarely used and are quickly accessible through the file manager. Mounted drives, the install icon, and files located in the ~/Desktop directory are shown on the desktop as before.
- Added additional options for accent colors used to highlight active elements (accent).
- Stopped using accent colors in the panel and menus. Catalog icons color changed to yellow. By default, blue is used instead of green for highlighting. To return the old design (as in Linux Mint 20.2), a separate theme "Mint-Y-Legacy" is proposed.
- The settings provide the ability to select arbitrary colors for decoration.
- A new design for the mouse pointer has been proposed and a set of alternative pointers has been added.
- Changed the set of default sound effects. The new effects are borrowed from the Material Design V2 set.
- Added alternate icon themes. Besides Mint-X, Mint-Y and Mint Legacy themes, Breeze, Papirus, Numix and Yaru themes are also available.
- The device manager has been upgraded, which now runs under an unprivileged user and does not require a password. Changed the design of the screen shown when working in offline mode. Also changed the screen displayed when a USB or DVD drive with drivers is detected. Simplified driver installation for Broadcom wireless adapters.
- Provided correct Debconf support required when installing NVIDIA drivers with SecureBoot enabled. Changes have been made to Packagekit to remove packages along with configuration files that are used in device manager when uninstalling drivers, which resolved problems with NVIDIA drivers when moving from one branch to another.
- Support for Flatpak packages and their associated runtimes has been added to the Update Manager, which can now be updated in the same way as regular packages.
- Changes have been made to the application manager interface to visually separate Flatpak and system packages. Automatic addition of new packages from the Flathub catalog is provided.
The ability to select a version is provided if the desired application is available in the regular repository and in the Flatpak format.
- A tool for checking the integrity of ISO images has been added, which can be called through the context menu. For Linux Mint and Ubuntu, GPG files and SHA256 checksums for verification are determined automatically, while for other distributions, manual entry of links or file paths is required.
- A button has been added to the ISO burning utility to initiate an integrity check, which now also works for Windows images. Improved the interface of utilities for formatting USB drives.
- We continued to improve applications developed as part of the X-Apps initiative, aimed at unifying the software environment in editions of Linux Mint based on different desktops. X-Apps uses modern technologies (GTK3 for HiDPI support, gsettings, etc.) but retains traditional interface elements such as toolbars and menus. Among such applications are Xed text editor, Pix photo manager, Xreader document viewer, Xviewer image viewer.
- Provided the ability to customize the appearance and size of the cursor for the login screen.
- Strengthened the protection of Warpinator, a utility for encrypted file sharing between two computers, which automatically exits after 60 minutes of inactivity and restricts access to some settings.
- WebApp Manage features have been enhanced to include additional settings for web applications, such as displaying a navigation bar, profile isolation, and launching in private browsing mode.
- The code for deleting applications from the main menu has been redesigned - if the rights of the current user are sufficient for deletion, then the administrator password is no longer required. For example, without entering a password, you can remove Flatpak programs or shortcuts to local applications. Synaptic and the update manager have been moved to use pkexec to remember the entered password, which, when performing multiple operations, allows you to ask for the password only once.
- The package install source application has redesigned the way it handles keys for PPA repositories, which now apply only to a specific PPA, and not to all package sources.
- Testing of all Linux Mint projects moved from Circle continuous integration system to Github Actions.
Source: opennet.ru