After a month of beta testing the final stable release of Linux Mint 19 “Tara” is now available to download.
Linux Mint 19 is available in three versions: a Cinnamon edition (which uses the Cinnamon desktop environment by default, and is pictured above), an XFCE variant, and a MATE edition (which ships with the MATE desktop by default).
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As the first major release of Linux Mint in two years Linux Mint 19 is, rather understandably, chock full of changes and improvements — so regardless of which desktop edition you go for you can expect plenty of shiny new things!
Linux Mint 19: What’s New?
Linux Mint 19 is based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, the latest long-term support release of Ubuntu. This means Mint users not only benefit from a crop of new features, finesse and bug fixes but can also look forward to security updates for five years.
Yup: Linux Mint 19 is supported until 2023.
Among the notable new features is Timeshift, a new system backup tool that makes it easy to create and restore backups of your personal data and your applications (and is a tool that Ubuntu should consider adopting).
Linux Mint uses GTK 3.22. This is a newer version of the core GUI toolkit used by many Mint apps and means Mint users can install newer GTK themes, icon sets and run some of the latest Linux software.
There’s a new welcome app designed to help new users find their way around the system, learn how more about it, and easily access documentation and support:
The Software Manager app (aka the Mint software centre) is also improved in this release. Alongside improved navigation the app picks up support for installing Flatpak apps using .flatpakref and .flatpakrepo files.
In a notable aesthetic change Mint has switched its default desktop theme over to ‘Mint-Y’. This change helps to give the distribution a more polished appearance. Fans of the older ‘Mint-X’ theme needn’t panic as it’s still included.
Cinnamon 3.8 is included
The Linux Mint 19 Cinnamon edition ships with the latest Cinnamon 3.8 desktop release. This is a sizeable uplift and is packed full of bug fixes and enhancements.
For instance, Cinnamon 3.8 help apps launch faster, gives you the ability to set the maximum sound level, and adds close buttons to notifications (and introduces a limit per app to avoid notification spam).
After plenty of user feedback asking for the option you can now move notifications to the bottom of the screen in Linux Mint.
File search in the Nemo file manager has been refined, and it now supports “rubber-banding” when resizing the window with list view active.
If you’re an avid user of Cinnamon desklets you’ll appreciate the new Super+Alt shortcut too.
Key Linux Mint 19 features at a glance:
- Cinnamon 3.8 desktop
- Linux 4.15 kernel
- New desktop theme
- Timeshift app for creating/restoring system snapshots
- Linux Mint Welcome tool
- Performance improvements
- Better HiDPI support
- Support for Microsoft fonts
- Improved Software Manager app
- GNOME Calendar installed by default
- Improved Update Manager
Upgrade to Linux Mint 19
Linux Mint says it is working on an upgrade path so users can upgrade Linux Mint 18 to Linux Mint 19 without needing to re-install the OS from scratch.
More details on the Linux Mint 19 upgrade will be made available in the coming weeks. Mint recommends users use the “time shift” app to make a system snapshot before upgrading.
Download Linux Mint 19
Linux Mint 19 “MATE” Edition
You can download Linux Mint 19 from the official project website where it is available in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. Checksums are available so that you can verify your download is the real-deal.
If you’re ready to get started you can click the links below to jump straight to the 64-bit download pages. Each ISO is roughly 1.8GB (so do make sure you’re not on a metered connection like a mobile tether before downloading):
Download Linux Mint 19: Cinnamon Edition (64-bit)