The first release candidate for Linux Mint 5 (codename Elyssa) Fluxbox CE was released a few days ago, announcing the distribution's emphasis on a fully functional and yet lightweight desktop. This version brings some nice new features such as mint-mfm (which auto-updates the Fluxbox menu) and various custom actions to enable a more pleasant user experience.

Now, let's see in more detail what the new additions included in this release are:

· mint-mfm - probably the most important feature of this edition of Linux Mint is the auto-updating and auto-generating Fluxbox menu. You no longer have to manually configure the menu, unless you absolutely want to, in which case, your modifications will remain unaltered during the menu updates; another nice functionality here is that menu icons are just a click away from being enabled/disabled, depending on the user;
· Multimedia compatibility - this version of Linux Mint doesn't stray from the usual features set when it comes to multimedia, as there are all sorts of preinstalled plugins and codecs ready for use;
· Language and localization support - Linux Mint Fluxbox CE follows the goal of the Elyssa family releases in providing translations for all Mint tools, as well as a better localization;
· Thunar custom actions - various custom actions have now been included to enhance the user's pleasant experience during a Linux Mint session. Some of the most notable are md5sum (a simple tool for rapidly calculating an md5 hash), folder sharing files over Samba, and facilitated installation of TrueType fonts;
· Look and feel - although creating an equilibrium between a functional GUI and low resource usage was one of the primary goals, Linux Mint Fluxbox CE comes with a set of very attractive themes like Fluxbox style (in fact, a modified MurrinaFlux style), GTK theme, and Delta Green icon theme.

One last word about the software present in the distribution would be that it's mainly aimed for stability, yet trying to provide most of the usual user needs. We'll see Firefox 3, Pidgin, and Sylpheed (mail client) for net tasks, Mplayer and Brasero for multimedia, the Thunar file manager, EnvyNg (for driver fetching and install), and many more.

Download Linux Mint Fluxbox 5.0 RC1 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is an unstable release and it should not be installed on production machines. It is intended to be used for testing purposes only!