The distribution will be powered by Linux kernel 4.4 LTS

May 7, 2016 17:35 GMT  ·  By

The announcement posted by Linux Mint project leader Clement Lefebvre on May 6, 2016, was a pretty big one, revealing a lot of information about the upcoming Linux Mint 18 "Sarah" operating system.

We reported the other day on the new look of Linux Mint 18, as the devs unveiled the Mint-Y theme, and earlier today we told you a few things about what's to be expected from the next major release of the Ubuntu-based, desktop-oriented operating system, Linux Mint 18.1, due for release later this year.

But we didn't tell you what's under the hood of Linux Mint 18 "Sarah," which will be based on the recently released Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system and powered by its long-term supported Linux 4.4 kernel packages. Additionally, there will also be updated graphics stacks for Linux Mint 18.

"The package base for Linux Mint 18 is Ubuntu 16.04, a very recent Ubuntu release freshly synced from the Debian repositories," said Clement Lefebvre. "This new base provides us with a lot of updated software, new system and hardware stacks, a newer version of X.Org and newer kernels and drivers."

More hardware devices and components are now supported

The result of rebasing the entire Linux Mint 18 operating system on Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, which sports a great number of up-to-date technologies, is that more hardware devices and components are now supported, so the upcoming OS should work much better on systems where Linux Mint 17 failed to operate correctly.

For now, Clement Lefebvre confirms that Nvidia Optimus support is there and works out-of-the-box, providing users with full 3D acceleration and a handy applet that lets them switch between the dedicated and integrated graphics cards easily, and he also managed to successfully install Linux Mint 18 on an Apple MacBook Pro laptop.

So things are looking great for Linux Mint 18 "Sarah," which will be available in a Beta form in early June for early adopters and public beta testers. The final release of Linux Mint 18 will ship in the coming months, most probably in July or early August, but there's no exact date set yet.