The Linux Mint Team has yet another highly anticipated release for us, and, this time, it’s the final version of Linux Mint 5 KDE Edition. Although very close to another important Mint release (just yesterday, we mentioned the availability of the first RC for the Fluxbox Edition), this version has great potential to become very popular among declared fans and newcomers alike.

This version has an updated kernel, following closely the one of Ubuntu 8.04.1, and certain Mint specific tools such as:

· mintAssistant;  
· mintWifi;
· mintInstall;
· mintUpdate;
· mintUpload;

Here are some known issues that may or may not affect you, but which should definitely be taken into consideration:

· the native QT interfaces have not been implemented in the Mint tools; GTK interfaces are used instead;
· in case a separate partition for /boot is used, the graphical boot will not be available; fixing this requires two steps: 
         - copy /etc/grub/message.mint to /boot/grub/;
         - edit /boot/grub/menu.lst by changing gfxboot=/grub/message.mint;
· GTK applications are not rendered with the QT theme because of compatibility problems between KDE and GTK.StatusIcon.

A peculiar thing about this release is that it doesn't come with upgrade notes. This is because it's best if you avoid an upgrade, and stick with a fresh install, which is guaranteed to cause you far less problems. Another mention that must be made here is that it's not necessary to upgrade or reinstall the stable release, if Linux Mint 5 KDE CE RC1 has already been downloaded.

About Linux Mint

Linux Mint is a Linux LiveCD based on the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. Its purpose is to produce an up-to-date, comfortable and elegant GNU/Linux distribution. Why should you choose Linux Mint? Because of the:

· Out-of-the-box multimedia support;
· Microsoft Windows integration (NTFS read & write support, dual-boot, Migration Assistant);
· One-Click software installation (CNR, Linux Mint Software Portal, mintInstall);
· Easy file/folder sharing;
· Advanced Control Center;
· Superb 3D effects;
· Great configuration utilities;
· Great selection of default programs (OpenOffice.org, Pidgin, Mozilla Firefox, Mozilla Thunderbird, The GIMP, XChat, Amarok, etc.);
· Solid package base (Google Earth, Picasa, Skype, and a lot of other important software).

Download Linux Mint KDE Edition 5.0 now from Softpedia.