Clement Lefebvre, the father of the Linux Mint project, proudly announced earlier today (November 13th) on their official blog the immediate availability of the first release candidate of the upcoming Linux Mint 8 (codename Helena) operating system. Linux Mint 8 will be based on the newly released Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) and it will be powered by Linux kernel 2.6.31, X.org 7.4 and GNOME 2.28.1. Above all that, the 8th release of Linux Mint will include brand-new artwork, updated applications and many, many other amazing features for all its fans out there!

"The 8th release of Linux Mint comes with numerous bug fixes and a lot of improvements. In particular Linux Mint 8 comes with support for OEM installs, a brand new Upload Manager, the menu now allows you to configure custom places, the update manager now lets you define packages for which you don’t want to receive updates,the software manager now features multiple installation/removal of software and many of the tools’ graphical interfaces were enhanced." - Clement Lefebvre said in the official release announcement.

Highlights of Linux Mint 8 RC1:

· Based on Ubuntu 9.10;
· Linux kernel 2.6.31;
· EXT4 filesystem;
· X.Org 7.4;
· GNOME 2.28.1;
· Improvements to the Menu;
· Improvements to the software manager;
· Improvements to the update manager;
· New Upload manager tool;
· Lots of bugs fixed.

Recommended system requirements:

· A 32-bit processor;
· 512 MB of RAM;
· 2.5 GB free hard disk space (for installation);
· VGA video card capable of at least 800x600 resolution;
· A CD-ROM drive.

What is Linux Mint? Linux Mint is an elegant, easy-to-use, up-to-date, 100% free and comfortable Linux desktop distribution based on the very popular Ubuntu operating system. It offers paid commercial support to companies and individuals. Also, free community support is available from the forums and the IRC channel.

Download Linux Mint 8 RC1 right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is an unstable release and it should not be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only! Please report bugs to the Linux Mint 7 RC1 Bug thread on their forum.