A beta version of Linux Mint 22.1 “Xia” is now officially available to download, ahead of an anticipated stable release at the end of December.
Linux Mint 22.1 is an in-series update to Linux Mint 22, released earlier back in July.
As such, it continues to be based on Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS and powered by the Linux 6.8 kernel (although new kernel versions are coming as part of Ubuntu’s HWE, which Mint 22.x now tracks by default).
But there are substantive changes elsewhere, not least to the default Cinnamon desktop environment, underlying package management tools, and burgeoning compatibility with the Wayland display server.
For a look at this beta in a bit more detail, scroll on.
Linux Mint 22.1 Beta
Given that the Cinnamon desktop forms the central plank of Linux Mint, it’s no surprise to see the majority of the distro’s changes comes from the recent Cinnamon 6.4 release.
I posted a sizeable overview of what’s new in Cinnamon 6.4 earlier this month, so much of the eye-catching changes that Linux Mint 22.1 (Cinnamon edition) offers ought to be familia by this point.
The most noticeable change in Cinnamon 6.4 is undoubtedly it’s brand new theme with rounder corners, richer contrast, increased padding, and detached-from-the-panel applets combining for a slick, modern-leaning desktop aesthetic:
Except, that new theme is NOT used out-of-the-box in Linux Mint 22.1 Beta.
It’s included, but it’s not the default.
Instead, the distro continues to use its own Mint-Y-Dark Cinnamon theme as standard, albeit updated this cycle to adapt to/take advantage of other UI changes in Cinnamon 6.4.
But those eye-catching applet panel gaps and super-round corners aren’t on show:
Anyone looking to sample the stock skin can switch to it easily enough from the System Settings > Themes > Advanced Settings and choosing the ‘Cinnamon’ theme from the fly-out palette.
Cinnamon 6.4 also switches to Clutter-based dialogs and auth prompts, improves Wayland compatibility, and introduces some nifty new native features (which I’ll get to in a mo’).
The new screen-takeover Clutter dialogs are a big improvement over the previous mix of GTK-esque floating dialogs. It was easy to lose a permission prompt amongst other apps, or not realise it was a DE-level request, not an app one.
Unifying them is a smart change – with the added benefit of improving system-auth under Wayland.
Another big feature in Cinnamon 6.4 is its new, native Night Light implementation.
This means Linux Mint users can once again benefit from blue light filtering, as the distro dropped the GUI RedShift tool from its default install back in Linux Mint 22 (for various reasons). The upside to the new one: it works in Wayland too!
Night Light is turned off by default but can be turned on via Settings > Night Light.
When on, sunrise and sunset times are calculated from the system timezone to reduce blue light (make the screen warmer) at night, potentially helping improve sleep. Custom schedules can be added, and colour temperature/intensity adjusted.
Elsewhere, Cinnamon 6.4 lets users change power mode from the Power applet and/or the Power Management settings panel so Linux Mint 22.1 preinstalls power-profiles daemon out of the box to let users switch between power modes.
Package Management Tweaks
Linux Mint 22.1 modernises its APT dependencies. Old, dusty components have been swept out, and a bespoke set of streamlined, future-proof package management tools and libraries brought in.
Though most folk think of APT as a singular thing, it’s actually a collection of tools and libraries.
Some of those tools, while working, are decades old and no longer actively maintained. Mint devs found it increasingly difficult to keep some of them working with modern components, and support the kind of features they want.
So it’s created its own: Aptkit replaces aptdaemon, while Captain handles Gdebi (i.e., GUI DEB package installs) and apturl links.
Any app or feature that relies on aptdaemon, synaptic, or apturl makes use of the replacements in Linux Mint 22.1, so users shouldn’t notice much (if any) difference.
For example, double-clicking on a DEB package to install, Captain looks enough like Gdebi at first-blush – although it has some new features too, being a button to see a list of files inside the DEB and preview them:
The switch also makes it possible for the distro to finally offer a GUI assistant to help users ‘downgrade foreign packages’ (i.e., packages which are newer than/not in the main repos):
Like most of Linux Mint’s work, these modern reboots are available for other distribution maintainers to use or adapt to suit their needs.
Application Buffs
Several of Linux Mint’s default apps pick up some minor new features.
Nemo now provides an option to disable auto-expanding treeview columns when using drag and drop to move/copy files, while actions (downloadable scripts for the file manager) now support keyboard shortcuts.
Software Manager, Mint’s GUI software storefront, is said to have benefitted from (unspecified) speed improvements – though I’ve always found it blazing fast in earlier versions so it’s hard to tell how pronounced those will be.
The Bulky file renamer is now equipped to remove accents from file names, and a new thumbnailer is preinstalled to generate file previews for OpenRaster (.ora) files, commonly used by a range of open-source graphic design software.
Decluttering Desktop Backgrounds
Each new version of Linux Mint ships with a wide range of desktop wallpapers, with each successive version of Linux Mint continuing to provide access to old wallpapers – in all, a LOT of random wallpapers all grouped by Linux Mint release name.
Thing is: browsing wallpapers by release names isn’t super obvious. Uma, Wilma, Virginia, etc doesn’t mean much to someone looking for a pretty desktop background.
So Mint is switching to offering themed wallpaper sets.
In Linux Mint 22.1, the new ‘Wallpapers’ group includes a wide range of colourful abstract desktop backgrounds.
More themed sets will come in later releases, presumably things like ‘Nature’, or ‘Space’, etc – labels and more relevant than a female name like Vera.
Linux Mint 22.1 at-a-glance:
- Night Light feature with auto timezone detection
- Improved package management handling
- New GUI DEB package installer
- GUI foreign package removal/downgrade
- Notifications can be made to appear over fullscreen apps
- Power mode switching now available
- Clutter dialogs used throughout
- Sound over-amplification settings simplified
- Global Window List can show windows from other monitors
- Improved alt + tab UI
- Cinnamon new default theme
- Password visibility toggle in screensaver dialog
- Nemo actions support keyboard shortcuts
- Bulky file renamer tool can remove accents from file names
- Wayland compatibility improvements
- OpenRaster file thumbnail generation
- New, streamlined ‘wallpaper’ set
Plus lots of low-level fixes, tweaks, and tune-ups.
Trying Linux Mint 22.1 Beta
As a point release in the existing Linux Mint 22.x series, Linux mint 22.1 will be supported through 2029 — once stable.
Users can download the Linux Mint 22.1 beta from the Linux Mint website. Those installing it on bare metal can, of course, upgrade to the final stable release when it arrives simply by installing all in-repo software updates issued between now and then.
Cheers Marco!