The release of the Linux Mint 22.3 distribution has been presented, continuing the development of the branch on the Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package base. The distribution is fully compatible with Ubuntu, but differs significantly in its approach to organizing the user interface and the selection of default applications. The Linux Mint developers provide a desktop environment that corresponds to the classic canons of organizing the desktop, which is more familiar to users who do not accept the new methods of building the GNOME 3 interface. DVD builds based on the MATE (3.1 GB), Cinnamon (3 GB) and Xfce (3 GB) shells are available for download. The Linux Mint 22 branch is classified as a long-term support (LTS) release, updates for which will be generated until 2029.
Major changes in Linux Mint 22.3:
- The System Reports utility has been significantly expanded and renamed to the System Information application. In addition to pages with general system information and problem reporting, four new sections have been added with detailed information about connected USB devices, PCI components, GPUs, and BIOS (information about firmware, motherboard, and boot modes).
- A new "System Administration" application has been added. It runs with root privileges and includes administrator-specific information and settings. Currently, the application has one section, "Boot Menu," where you can control the boot menu display and change boot parameters.
- Instead of the Adwaita symbolic icon set, our own XSI (XApp Symbolic Icons) icon set is used.
- The muffin window manager has significantly improved compatibility with Wayland.
- The Cinnamon desktop environment has been updated to version 6.6, featuring a redesigned application menu featuring a sidebar displaying the user's avatar, favorite directories, and frequently used applications. Tooltips with program descriptions are now available when hovering over application names. Bookmarks and favorite directories are now displayed separately. Keyboard navigation has been simplified.
The program category list in the menu has been redesigned more compactly, using symbolic icons to clearly highlight categories. System buttons (screen lock, sleep, and power off) have been moved to the upper right corner, but settings have been added to move them to the bottom of the application menu or the sidebar. A setting has also been added to move the search bar to the bottom of the menu.
Settings for hiding various menu elements have been added to the configurator. For example, you can hide the sidebar or customize its contents (bookmarks, favorite directories, frequently used applications, system buttons).
Keyboard handling has been redesigned. Support for switching keyboard layouts when using Wayland has been added, and input method support has been improved. Settings for traditional layouts and IBus input methods have been separated.
The layout switching applet now supports different types of keyboard layouts and IBus.
The on-screen keyboard has been redesigned to no longer use libcaribou and support layout switching.
An option to show new notifications first has been added to the notification system. Icons have been implemented to indicate the number of unseen notifications.
The virtual desktop switching applet has been improved to display desktop thumbnails with icons of visible windows. An option to display only windows on the current monitor has been added to the Alt+Tab interface.
The configurator now has a separate tab for tile mode settings. A section for configuring Thunderbolt device settings has been added.
A Night Light applet has been added, allowing you to change the color temperature depending on the time of day. When working at night, the screen's blue light intensity is automatically reduced, creating a warmer color palette to reduce eye strain and reduce the risk of insomnia when working before bed.
- The Nemo file manager now features a template interface for quickly launching applications for creating various file types. Support for pausing and resuming file operations, such as copying and moving, has been implemented. File search accuracy using regular expressions has been improved. Thumbnail generation has been improved.
- The capabilities of applications built on the xapp library have been expanded. This library provides a GTK framework with elements for unified operation across various user environments (Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce). XApps utilize modern technologies (GTK3 for HiDPI support, gsettings, etc.) while retaining traditional interface elements such as the toolbar and menu. These applications include the Xed text editor, Pix photo manager, Xreader document viewer, and Xviewer image viewer.
- The Timeshift backup program has the ability to pause and resume snapshot creation operations.
- The Hypnotix IPTV player hides the mouse cursor in full-screen mode and implements the transfer of keystrokes to the MPV player.
- The python3-xapp module now supports multithreading and gettext functions. A GTK widget, "ListEditor," has been added for working with string lists.
- Warpinator, an app that provides encrypted file sharing between two computers, has added IPv6 support and the ability to send text messages.
- The Captain package installation interface now allows you to process requests to install multiple packages at once by specifying a list in the URL form "apt://package1,package2...".
- The application manager dashboard now displays an icon warning you that a reboot is required to install updates.
- The mintbackup utility now has an "Include All" button for adding all hidden files and directories to the backup.
- As with the previous release, the Linux kernel 6.14 and the MATE 1.28 and Xfce 4.20 desktop environments continue to be shipped.
Source: opennet.ru
