Linux Mint 21.1: The better-than-ever Linux desktop

[RV_]

I have posted about Linux mint and prefer Cinnamon UI with it as Steven Vaughan-Nichols, ZD NET Senior Contributing Editor on Dec. 23, 2022 just wrote about.

This long-term-support version of Linux Mint is a great Linux desktop for both beginners and experts.

Excerpt:

"The latest version, Linux Mint 21.1, Vera, is better than ever. If you don't know it, let me introduce you.

Linux Mint 21.1 is a comprehensive desktop operating system that includes everything you need for home and office work. It comes with LibreOffice 7.3.7 for office productivity, Firefox 108.0.1 for web browsing, Thunderbird 102.4.2 for email and calendering, and GIMP 2.10.30 for graphics editing. None of this will cost you a thin dime. 

Mint gives you your choice of three interfaces: Cinnamon 5.6, MATE, and Xfce. For me, the Cinnamon interface is the easiest to use. I recommend it to anyone who wants to move from the Mac and Windows world to Linux. It's very simple to pick up. 

The desktop itself has also been cleaned up. Now, by default, there are far fewer icons. The Home, Computer, Trash, and Network icons are all missing. If, like me, you still like icons, you can easily add them again via the System Settings panel. Mint gives you all the control you could ever want over your desktop to set it up in whatever way makes you happy. 

 

The interface is also just snappier. There have been many changes under the hood to make the display much faster. I noticed this immediately on my main desktop. The new Mint ran like a top on my 2020 Dell Precision 3451. This PC is powered by an Intel 8-core 3GHz i7-9700 CPU. It also includes 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. 

This is far more computer than Mint needs. Linux Mint will run on pretty much any computer. If your PC has 2GBs of RAM and 100GB, any graphics card, and a monitor that supports a 1024×768 resolution, you're good to go. If you're not sure if you want to try Mint, you can literally grab pretty much any PC from a second-hand store to play with it. 

This version of Mint is built on top of Ubuntu 22.04, known as Jammy Jellyfish. From it, it inherits many business-friendly features, such as full support for Active Directory (AD) with Advanced Group Policy Object. So if you want to run Mint on a business network with a Windows 2012 or newer AD Domain Controller, you're ready for work.  

If you elect to do that, it's also handy to know that Mint 21.1 is a long-term support (LTS) release. It will be supported for five years, that is, until 2027.

So, if you want a holiday Linux project, or you're ready to kiss Windows goodbye, give Mint a try. You'll be glad you did."

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