The latest update makes the switch to the Linux 3.0 kernel

Sep 17, 2011 09:55 GMT  ·  By

Linux Mint has announced the release of its latest update to the "Debian Edition" of the popular and user friendly Linux distro. Linux Mint Debian Edition 201109 is now available in both Gnome and Xfce flavors.

ISOs for both desktop environments are available, if you want to give the Debian version of Linux Mint a try.

But if you already have it installed on your system, all of the changes and updated packages should already be installed, provided you've been keeping up with the updates.

"The team is proud to announce the release of LMDE 201109 with updated ISOs for Gnome and Xfce," the announcement read.

Here's a brief overview of what's new in Linux Mint Debian Edition 201109:

· All Linux Mint 11 features; · Installer improvements (keyboard variants, locale, bug fixes, UUID in fstab); · Update Packs, dedicated Update Manager and staged repositories; · GTK2/GTK3 theme compatibility; · Updated software and packages.

Linux Mint Debian Edition 201109 makes the jump to the Linux 3.0 kernel. With that comes a caveat for 32-bit users. The default kernel in the 32-bit ISOs, for compatibility reasons, is the 486 kernel.

This ensures that LMDE runs on a all but the most ancient computers, but it also means that multi-core processors won't be recognized.

So, if you have a multi-core processor, or multiple processors on your system, switch to the 686-PAE version of the kernel, available in the repositories.

Linux Mint Debian Edition aims to replicate all of Linux Mint's strengths and features while using a Debian base, rather than Ubuntu like the regular Linux Mint. There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach.

On the one hand, Debian provides a cleaner and lighter environment as well as a more 'traditional' Linux experience (which can be both a good thing and a bad thing).

On the other, there are more rough edges and you probably need more experience with Linux to get the most out of the Debian Edition. Once you put in a little effort to get it looking and running just the way you like it, it will be worth it though.

Linux Mint Debian 201109 ISOs for Gnome and Xfce, 32-bit and 64-bit are available for download here.

Linux Mint 11 LXDE is available for download here. Linux Mint 11 is available for download here.