Linux Mint 21 based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with kernel 5.15 is out

Linux Mint 21 has been released. The new distro is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and will receive a minimum of five years of support. Mint 21 uses kernel version 5.15 and has a new NTFS file driver.

Linux Mint 21 Vanessa is based on the long term support release of Ubuntu 22.04. This gives the operating system support until 2027. It can be downloaded with three possible desktop environments. Cinnamon is the standard, but also Xcfe and MATE are optional to use as gui. Mint 21 uses Linux kernel 5.15. That too is an lts release. Kernel 5.19 was released earlier this week.

Mint has received a new upgrade tool that makes it easier for existing Mint 20.3 users to upgrade as well. In addition, the bluetooth client in Mint 21 has changed. That used to be Blueberry, but is now replaced by Blueman. According to the makers, Blueman has more options and offers better support for different desktop environments. Also new is the addition of an icon to the tray that allows users to manage processes at once, such as making software upgrades and updates and taking snapshots.

Mint 21 uses Cinnamon 5.4 by default, the classic desktop environment that has been updated for this version. It should be more stable and compatible on different types of hardware. What really stands out is the Muffin window manager, a fork of Mutter 3.36. The makers say they have kept that fork as close to the original as possible so that new changes in Mutter can be implemented more quickly in the future. That’s a big change under the hood, the makers say. Applications are therefore all rendered in the same way, which should provide a more stable experience.

Other changes in Mint 21 include the addition of IPP Driverless Printing and Scanning, which automatically finds printers, the ability to uninstall several applications at once, and improvements to Xapps.