Code-named “Sonya,” this operating system is based on Ubuntu 16.04 which is a long term support version. This means Linux Mint 18.2 will be supported until 2021. The kernel is fairly modern at version 4.8. To further highlight the continuing death of optical media, the excellent Brasero is no longer being included by default.
The most interesting variant of Mint is Cinnamon, of course, as it is a modern desktop environment, but unlike KDE, it is not complicated to use or configure. For Windows-switchers in particular, this DE should feel rather familiar. With Sonya, users are treated to Cinnamon 3.4.
“One of the most notable improvements in Cinnamon 3.4 is the handling of desktop icons. Icons can now be automatically aligned on a grid, either in lines or in columns. They can also be automatically sorted in various ways: By name, by size, by type or by modified date. You can also change desktop icon sizes with a click of a button, and desktop icons are now handled in their own separate process, which isn’t tied to other nemo windows,” says Clement Lefebvre, Linux Mint.
