New Mint Minted
Version 16 of the popular Linux desktop reveals new tools, edge-snapping, and performance improvements.
The Linux Mint team has released of Linux Mint 16 "Petra." Previous versions of Ubuntu-based Mint have made it one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions in the world -- and put it in first place on the distrowatch download list. The Mint team appears poised to maintain that momentum, announcing several changes to the desktop environments, as well as system and performance improvements under the hood.
Mint posted separate press announcements for the separate editions centered around the Cinnamon and Mate desktops environments. Both versions include performance improvements for the Software Manager and Update Manager. Mint ISO images are no longer compressed, which means they take more space but perform better in Live boot scenarios. Both versions also report system changes resulting in safer kernel updates, faster boot, better EFI support, and better support for the Steam game engine.
Cinnamon has a new user management applet, as well as updates to the Nemo file manager and new edge-snapping feature based on the Snap feature of Xbox One. The Mate edition (based on Gnome 2) gets a new login screen, a new tool for formatting USB sticks, and many artwork improvements.
See the Linux Mint website for information on downloading and installing Mint 16.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Digital Autonomy
• The Answer Was Already on the Shelf
• Changing the Chip Industry: How Public Investment Has Grown Open Silicon
• United Nations Open Source Portal Goes Live
• EU Open Source Strategy Plays Key Role in Tech Sovereignty Package
• France Says “Au Revoir” to Microsoft
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
AI Fixes Linux Bottlenecks Using “Hideous” Code
A Linux developer used AI to fix bottlenecks that caused problems when building the kernel. The resulting AI-generated code needed a lot of work.
-
Advanced Video Coding Still Under Patent
Brazilian patent BRPI0109962B1 has expired, which means that DivX and Xvid are no longer problematic for Linux, but it doesn’t mean that video is all of a sudden fully unleashed.
-
2,000 Vulnerabilities per Linux Release
Thanks to AI bug hunters, the Linux kernel is seeing record numbers of vulnerabilities, and it's overwhelming developers.
-
Linux Exempt from California’s Age Verification Law
So long as Linux is distributed under the GPL, MIT, BSD, and Apache licenses, the OS is exempt from being required to verify the age of its users in California.
-
Roll Out the Cake: Linux Turns 35
35 years ago, a Finnish student began a humble project that would forever change the course of technology.
-
China Switching from Windows to Linux
China has ordered several government agencies to drop a Chinese-developed version of Windows 10 in favor of either KylinOS or UOS.
-
Pine64 Halts Production of Linux Devices
With continued DRAM and eMMC shortages, Pine64 has decided to discontinue production of Linux devices.
-
The Bullet-Proof KDE Software Initiative Is Coming
KDE, Techpaladin, and Kubuntu Focus have announced a new initiative that will provide at least three years of support for KDE Plasma 6.6 LTS and related software.
-
Linux Mint Shares a Possible Kernel Cleanup Solution
For those on Linux Mint who like to keep multiple kernels around but don't want them to take up too much space, you might be getting a new automated tool.
-
CachyOS Gets an Update
CachyOS August 2026 release is now available with the latest version of KDE, some new features, and plenty of improvements.