Linux Mint 17 “Qiana”

As you know, Linux Mint 17 is an open OS based on Ubuntu and designed not so much for pros as for ordinary users who care about ease of use, a logical interface, ease of installation of software, codecs, drivers, and everything else that may be needed.

Currently, the Linux Mint 17 release candidate “Qiana” has become available for download, which, according to the developers, can be considered “almost stable”. Linux Mint 17 “Qiana” receives official support until 2019. The release will be updated once every six months. It is worth noting that the release candidate is available in two editions: MATE or Cinnamon .

As for the official stable release, it will be available a little later (at the end of May).

What's new in this release?

Update



manager This manager has been updated quite well, now the manager window shows more information about each update, it works faster, and does not need to be rebooted if root-mode is used.

The interface is improved, icons are updated, getting a list of changes for each update works faster than in previous versions.

There is a new “type” column, which is created to show whether it is a regular update, a security update, or other types of updates.

A new section appeared in the update manager, where all available kernel versions are displayed.



Driver manager

Now you can install drivers without connecting to the network. If there is no Internet connection, the system will ask you to indicate the path to the installed driver on any of the media.

In addition, support for Broadcom wireless chips has now been improved, so that direct connection via a network cable can be omitted.

Login Screen

Improved support for multiple monitors, for example, you can specify yourself which of the monitors will be used by default.

Background animation uses less resources.

A recovery command has appeared. For example, if you can’t log in, use the CTRL + ALT + F1 combination to launch the console, and the “mdm-recovery” command.

Language settings



This tool has also been updated and is the only language management center for all editions, including Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce.

Software Sources

Improved interface, added some new settings.

Welcome screen



Developers redesigned the welcome screen, which now also uses less resources and starts much faster.

Other updates, a complete list, can be found here .

Here is the list of item updates:

Update Manager
Drivers Manager
Login Screen
Language Settings
Software Sources
Welcome Screen
Cinnamon 2.2
System Improvements
Artwork Improvements
Main Components
LTS Strategy

By the way, the candidate’s release also has problem areas, including a hang on the user's login when choosing German as the main language. Also a problem is the lack of support (corrected) for NVIDIA Optimus chips.

System requirements:

x86 processor;
512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended for comfortable work);
5 GB of free file space (20 GB recommended);
Graphics adapter with support for resolution 800 * 600 (1024 * 768 recommended);
USB port and / or drive.

You can download it here:

Torrents:

• 32-bit
• 64-bit
  
  Over HTTP you can download here:
  
  32 bit (m) and 64 bit (Russia).