They are based on Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS and Linux kernel 4.8

Jun 6, 2017 16:00 GMT  ·  By

Linux Mint project leader Clement Lefebvre announced a few moments ago the release and immediate availability of the Beta versions of Linux Mint 18.2 "Sonya" Cinnamon and MATE editions.

Linux Mint 18.2 "Sonya" Beta gives users the possibility to test drive the Cinnamon and MATE editions of the upcoming operating system, which is now based on the Ubuntu 16.04.2 LTS (Xenial Xerus) distro, but using the Linux 4.8 kernel packages from Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak). This means it will be supported until 2021.

"Linux Mint 18.2 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2021. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use. This new version of Linux Mint contains many improvements," reads today's announcement.

Linux Mint 18.2 "Sonya" Cinnamon edition features Cinnamon 3.4

As expected, the Cinnamon edition of Linux Mint 18.2 "Sonya" features the recently released Cinnamon 3.4 desktop environment, which brings major improvements to the handling of desktop icons. The Cinnamon Spices website was also revamped to let you add desklets, themes, applets, and extensions to your Cinnamon desktop.

Among other improvements included in today's Beta versions of Linux Mint 18.2 "Sonya" Cinnamon and MATE editions, we can mention better Bluetooth support, enhancements to the Xed, Pix, Xreader, Xviewer, Xplayer, Update Manager, and Software Sources apps, as well as the adoption of LightDM as default login manager.

Artwork improvements are all over for a better Linux Mint desktop experience, on both Cinnamon and MATE editions, and among some under-the-hood optimizations, we can mention that the root account gets a random password during installation, but you can use the "sudo -i" command to become root.

Without any further ado, you can download both Linux Mint 18.2 "Sonya" Cinnamon and MATE Beta editions right now from our website as either 64-bit or 32-bit Live ISO images. Please try to keep in mind that these are pre-release versions, so don't use them as your daily driver just yet.

Linux Mint 18.2 MATE
Linux Mint 18.2 MATE
Cinnamon Spices
Cinnamon Spices
New Blueberry user interface
New Blueberry user interface

Linux Mint 18.2 Beta (8 Images)

Linux Mint 18.2 Cinnamon
Linux Mint 18.2 MATECinnamon Spices
+5more