14 DAY TRIAL // The first release candidate for Linux Mint 14 was announced yesterday, but it seems that the distribution has a problem with 32-bit applications.
The Linux Mint developers have issued a note stating that the 32-bit support is not included the Linux Mint 14 RC.
“The ability to install 32-bit applications in a 64-bit environment is commonly referred to as 'Multiarch'. An upstream change occurred in Debian’s dpkg which made the Multiarch configuration in Ubuntu obsolete.”
“That configuration was removed and Ubuntu 12.10 consequently released with Multiarch disabled by default. The problem wasn’t detected during QA and impacts the two 64-bit editions of Linux Mint 14 RC,” the official announcement read.
There is a workaround for the problem. To enable Multiarch, open a terminal and type the following commands:
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386 apt update The developers have promised to repair the issue in the stable release of Linux Mint 14. “In an effort not to conflict with a future upstream fix from Ubuntu (which is likely to provide /var/lib/dpkg/arch in an update to the dpkg package) it was decided not to re-enable Multiarch on the user’s behalf via package updates in Linux Mint 14 RC,” the developers explained.
If you are interested in the latest release of The Linux Mint 14 RC, here are some highlights of the distribution:
• MATE 1.4 desktop environment has been added; • Cinnamon 1.6 desktop environment has been added to the distribution; • A new applet which lists all your windows across all workspaces, called Window Quick-List, has been implemented; • A notification panel, which keeps track of any notification users haven't dismiss, has been added; • Improvements in the Sound Applet have been implemented.
Check out the official announcement for Linux Mint 14 RC and for the Launchpad bug report.
Download Linux Mint 14 RC right now from Softpedia. Remember that this is a development version and it should NOT be installed on production machines. It is intended for testing purposes only.