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ZDNET Highlights
- The latest Linux Mint is a solid release for everyday use.
- The biggest improvement will be found in its default Cinnamon desktop.
- Mint Xena provides more information than ever before on what your hardware is doing.
Linux Mint 22.3 Xena There is a classic point release. There is nothing shocking in this release, but it brings improvements, improving quality of life and cinnamon desktop Refinement. This update makes Mint once again one of the best desktop apps for those who just want to work on their PC. If you liked Mint 22.1 and 22.2, 22.3 seems like the next logical distro you’ll want to stick with until Mint 22.x is supported in 2029.
Under the hood, Mint remains boring but nice. Linux Mint 22.3 is bundled with the Ubuntu 24.04 Long Term Support (LTS) base, which has been updated to 24.04.3. This technology provides a conservative, well-tested foundation with current hardware support rather than a brand new Linux distribution. Keep in mind, there’s nothing wrong with leading, leading Linux distros, like System76’s Pop! OS 24.04 with its brand-spanking new COSMIC desktop.
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The latest kernel in Mint is Linux 6.14. With this kernel and a fresh driver set, new Intel and AMD laptops, GPUs and Wi-Fi chipsets are more likely to ‘just work’ out of the box. Also, thanks for the improvement NTSYNC driver, if you like to play Windows games or run Windows programs on Linux, you will see better performance.
However, peppermint is also using Canonical’s Hardware Enablement (HWE) stackThis modified kernel includes the latest Linux kernel hardware improvements, That approach means Mint comes with driver improvements up to the latest kernel, Linux 6.18,
However, the Mint team warns you about Mint 22.3 release notes There are problems with this kernel VirtualBox And older Nvidia cards that still rely on the unsupported 470 driver. I use VirtualBox regularly and haven’t noticed any problems, but be careful there.
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For my testing, as usual, I tested the mint new on my 2020 Dell Precision 3451, which is powered by an 8-core 3GHz Intel i7-9700 CPU. The PC has 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. I am also using Mint 22.2 on my 2024 HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-223This computer has an eight-core 3,8 GHz AMD Ryzen 7 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD, The PC also has integrated AMD Radeon graphics,
On both PCs, Mint ran almost perfectly. The exception was manually adjusting VirtualBox’s graphics settings. Unfortunately, this requirement is true for almost any PC running VirtualBox with the 6.14 kernel. This concern is not a mint problem; This is a VirtualBox issue.
The rest of Mint’s built-in software worked fine. This software, as usual, includes LibreOffice 24.2.72.2 For office work and homework, firefox 146 for web browsing, and Thunderbird 128.14 For email and calendaring. If you’re a gamer, Linux Mint supports Steam, which lets you run games just like Windows. All these capabilities are available for free.
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New features have been provided in the System Reports tool. In honor of this, the tool has been renamed System Information. You can now view your USB, BIOS, GPU, and PCI configuration. You may not use this tool regularly, but the information it provides is valuable if your hardware goes haywire. There is also a new system administration menu. For now, this menu offers more control over how your PC boots.
The biggest improvement is to Mint’s default desktop Cinnamon. Cinnamon 6.6 features a redesigned menu, improved input handling, and solid groundwork for Wayland and modern multi-monitor setups. This is Mint doing what it does best: developing a traditional desktop rather than chasing fads. If you prefer, there are also Mint versions available with Xfce 4.18 and MATE 1.26.
Cinnamon’s new app menu uses a sidebar layout for your avatar, places, and favorites. This setup makes it faster to access what you actually use without having to go through nested categories. It also includes hot corner improvements in full-screen, better workspace switching, and more flexible tiling options.
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Cinnamon’s window manager, Muffin, has several changes for better Wayland compatibility. Indeed, a clear theme in 22.3 is to prepare Cinnamon for a world where Wayland and touch devices are the norm rather than the norm. Mint still defaults to X.Org for most users, but the groundwork here matters if you plan to keep the same install for many years.
You’ll also notice that Mint now uses simple, monochrome icons across all apps for buttons, menus, and status indicators. This switch is not a cinnamon change. these are XApp Symbolic Icon (XSI)Their job is to provide a universal set of icons for applications that scales clearly to different sizes and remains clear in both light and dark interface themes, I find the icons bland, but I think it’s useful to have icons that look and work the same no matter what program you’re using, That’s why, for example, we still have floppy disk icons for saving files, even though no one born in the last 20 years has ever used a floppy drive,
Linux Mint has always lived or died on the little things when you’re working all day, and 22.3 continues that tradition with a bunch of ‘of course it should do that’ fixes. None of these improvements would warrant a press conference, but together they make the desktop better than ever.
For example, nemo file manager Now supports pausing and resuming file operations, which is important if you move large files around or work with external drives. Since I transfer gigabytes of data from my local system to the cloud and back again, I love this feature on days when my Internet is choppy.
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There have also been improvements to Mint’s backup programs, TimeShift and Mint Backup. TimeShift takes snapshots of system files (root file system, critical configuration), allowing the operating system to be returned to a previous working state after a bad update, driver or configuration change. If you’re a Windows user, think of Windows System Restore, and you’ve got this. Mint Backup protects your personal files and settings. They complement each other rather than overlap.
TimeShift, Mint’s backup program, can now also pause and resume snapshots. This capability makes it easy to perform scheduled backups if something goes wrong on the server or cloud you are using to back up your system configuration. Mint Backup, with its new ‘Include All’ button, makes it easy to add all your hidden files and folders to your backup. I recommend using this setting, as many Linux programs require those files and folders to properly access your saved data.
Finally, the default shutdown timer delay is now 10 seconds instead of 90 seconds. This is useful when there is a stubborn application refusing to close.
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Want to see the new mint for yourself? you can now Download Mint 22.3If you’re already running an older version of Mint 22, use the Update Manager to update your software, and you’ll be given the option to upgrade directly to 22,3, No hassle, no fuss,
Xena isn’t trying to re-invent the Linux desktop. It’s trying to make your day a little less annoying, and it mostly succeeds. If you run an earlier 22.x release, this upgrade is no easy task. If you’re coming from Windows or a more experimental distro, 22.3 is exactly the kind of sensible, predictable desktop that will make Linux feel right at home.
