The team behind Linux Mint unveiled its latest update this week—Mint 17 using kernel 3.13.0-24, nicknamed “Qiana.” The new release indicates a major change in direction for what has quickly become one of the most popular Linux distros available today. Mint 17 is based on Ubuntu 14.04, and this decision appears to have one major driver. Consistency.
Like the recently released Ubuntu 14.04, Mint 17 is a Long Term Support Release. That means users can expect support to continue until 2019. But even better, this release marks a change in Mint’s relationship with Ubuntu. Starting with Mint 17 and continuing until 2016, every release of Linux Mint will be built on the same package base—Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. With this stability, instead of working to keep up with whatever changes Ubuntu makes in the next two years, Mint can focus on those things that make it Mint.
With major changes on the way for Ubuntu in the next two years, Mint’s decision makes a lot of sense. Not only does it free up the Mint team to focus on its two homegrown desktops (Cinnamon and MATE), but it also spares Mint users the potential bumpy road that is Ubuntu’s future.
In other words, Mint can sit back and work on perfecting its desktop while Ubuntu stumbles through the Mir and Unity 8 transitions. When things have settled down in Ubuntuland, Mint can jump back in with both feet (assuming it still wants to) when Ubuntu 16.04 LTS arrives. If all goes the way Mint developers intend, these changes will give Mint users a more polished, stable distro.
All of this makes Mint 17 an important release—it’s essentially what Mint will be working with for the next two years. Luckily, after spending some time with it, the good news is that Mint 17 will make a great base on which to build.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon
As with all Mint releases, there are two separate downloads available, one for the Cinnamon desktop and one for the MATE desktop. The more interesting of the two Mint 17 releases is the Cinnamon flavor, which features the just-released Cinnamon 2.2.
The Cinnamon desktop is a curious hybrid, combining some of the best elements of KDE with the best elements of the now-abandoned GNOME 2.x line. Cinnamon also has more than a few tricks of its own that build on those earlier foundations. It sounds like a recipe for a terrible Frankenstein of a desktop, but fortunately that’s not the case. Cinnamon ends up being perhaps the most user-friendly and all-around useful desktop available on any platform.
Now, Cinnamon has problems, but fortunately 2.2 solves many of the worst. It’s much faster and much more stable than previous releases. In fact, if you tried out Cinnamon even just a few releases ago and dismissed it as slow and buggy (can’t say we blame you; it was), we highly suggest you give it another try in Mint 17.
Among the more noticeable changes in Cinnamon 2.2 is the revamped system settings panel, which is no longer divided up into the somewhat arbitrary sections “normal” and “advanced.” Here there are just settings. The various settings panels are all in one place and have been reorganized into some basic categories that make it easy to find what you’re looking for, while also allowing you to change it.
Full Story: Mint 17 is the perfect place for Linux-ers to wait out Ubuntu uncertainty | Ars Technica.