Linux Mint 22
Linux Mint 22 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2029. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop experience more comfortable.
Linux Mint 22 "Wilma"
Linux Mint 22 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2029. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop experience more comfortable.
Improvements were made for Linux Mint 22 installations to be better localized and to use less disk space than before.
Preinstalled packages for languages other than English and the one you select are removed at the end of the installation. This was not optimized in previous Linux Mint releases. The removal of these packages in Linux Mint 22 saves a significant amount of disk space post-installation.
If you're connected to the Internet during the installation, language packs for your selected language are downloaded.
In addition, the following languages do not require an Internet connection since their language packs are present on the ISO image: English, German, Spanish, French, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch and Italian.
Linux Mint 22 ships with modern components and the new Ubuntu 24.04 package base.
To guarantee better compatibility with modern hardware, the kernel is version 6.8 and Linux Mint 22.x point releases will follow the HWE series.
The default sound server switched to Pipewire.
The Software Sources received support for the new Debian DEB822 format.
Themes were updated to support GTK4.
JXL support was added to Pix and a new thumbnailer was implemented for it.
All software using libsoup2 was migrated to libsoup3.
HiDPI support improvements were made in the boot sequence, in Plymouth and Slick-Greeter.
An updated package base doesn't just bring new technology, it can sometimes also threaten existing features.
Thunderbird continues to be available in Linux Mint 22 as a native .deb package. Following the decision by Ubuntu to move it to Snap, Linux Mint is now responsible for packaging it.
With GNOME 46, libgoa/libgoa-backend 3.50 moved to GTK4 and could no longer be used by GTK3 applications. This meant that Online Accounts support had to disappear from Cinnamon, Budgie and Unity. The XApp project implemented a standalone application called "GNOME Online Accounts GTK". Not only did this bring the feature back in these three desktop environments, it also made it possible for it to be used in MATE and Xfce.
In Ubuntu 24.04, a number of GNOME applications moved to libAdwaita and stopped supporting the system theme.
Since selecting a theme is a core part of the desktops shipped by Linux Mint (Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce), apps are required to support it.
As a result, the GNOME Font Viewer was removed and the following applications were downgraded back to GTK3 versions: Celluloid, GNOME Calculator, Simple Scan, Baobab, System Monitor, GNOME Calendar, File Roller, Zenity.
The mintinstall Software Manager received some welcome changes.
It loads faster than before and the main window appears instantly.
The application features improved multi-threading, a new preferences page and a banner slideshow.
In a blog post, the Linux Mint team explained why unverified Flatpaks represented a very important security issue: https://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=4675
The post highlighted the fact that users REALLY need to trust where they get their software from, and that for most unverified Flatpaks, building up that trust is not possible.
Verified Flatpaks now show their maintainer name.
Unverified Flatpaks are disabled by default.
A warning reminds you of the security risks associated with them.
When enabled, these Flatpaks are clearly marked as unverified.
Note that unverified Flatpaks also do not feature any reviews and do not have a score.
Following the discontinuation of Hexchat, Linux Mint moved to the Matrix chat network.
Matrix is as open as IRC, but it provides a much more modern experience. Similar to Slack or Discord, it features persistent discussions and support for common chat features and multimedia files.
Linux Mint 22 comes with a preinstalled Web App called Matrix which shows you information to help you get started:
And connects you to the Linux Mint space on Matrix using a Web client called Element:
The team hopes its Matrix channels will provide a welcoming and constructive place for people to chat and help each other.
Nemo actions can be organized neatly thanks to a new Layout Editor.
Separators and submenus can be added.
Labels and icons can be overridden to tune actions to your liking in your context menu.
Cinnamon 6.2 also features many bug fixes, performance improvements and the following changes:
The notes taking app, Sticky, can be invoked from the command line, making it easy to configure keybindings to create and interact with notes on the desktop.
The default position of newly created notes is now configurable.
The Xed text editor can duplicate selected text by clicking "Duplicate" in the Edit menu, or by pressing Ctrl+Shift+D.
A new configuration setting controls whether or not it should quit when its last tab is closed.
Its number of displayed recent files was increased from 5 to 10.
In Timeshift, deleting a snapshot now pops up a confirmation dialog.
Firefox Web applications created with the WebApp Manager feature a smarter menubar and toolbar which is hidden by default but visible when useful (for instance when a tab is opened).
In Xfce, the xfce4-xapp-status-plugin tray applet features configurable icon sizes for fullcolor and symbolic icons.
A new thumbnailer for Gimp files was implemented. The package is called xapp-thumbnailer-gimp. It is available in the repositories.
The ISO images are now compatible with FAT32 in File System Transposition mode.
Linux Mint 22 features a superb collection of backgrounds from Ashish Kumar Senapati, Joseph Corl, Jigar Panchal, Karsten Winegeart, Meiying Ng, Milad Fakurian, Mohamed Nohassi, Marek Piwnicki, Pierre Blaché, Simon Lee and Zoltan Tasi.
Linux Mint 22 features a Linux kernel 6.8 and an Ubuntu 24.04 package base.
Linux Mint 22 will receive security updates until 2029.
Until 2026, future versions of Linux Mint will use the same package base as Linux Mint 22, making it trivial for people to upgrade.
Until 2026, the development team won't start working on a new base and will be fully focused on this one.
