The Mint team announced the upcoming Linux Mint 21 codename, a utility for easy upgrade and Warpinator use cases that stuns the team.
Linux Mint 21 Announcement and Other Updates
Firstly, Linux Mint 21 code name is “Vanessa”, and it will be based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS Jammy Jellyfish. As usual, it will feature its three flagship versions: Xfce, Cinnamon, and MATE.
Secondly, it is evident that the Mint team chooses Ubuntu 22.04 LTS as the base of Linux Mint 21 for long term support, and it will feature the Linux Kernel 5.15, which is LTS Kernel.
In addition to that, the project leader Clement Lefebvre announced a new upgrade utility (mintupgrade2) that will make life easier for people planning to upgrade to Linux Mint 21. Historically, upgrading to major versions of Mint is a complex terminal-driven process and generally difficult for average users.
So, looking at the user base, it is a significant step for the team to develop this utility for their users. Clement Lefebvre promises that the new utility will be completely graphical, have manageable steps and instructions to follow, localization with language, armed with pre-checks for the complex upgrade processes, configurable and easy to understand instructions to users.
This tool will be the primary utility for Linux Mint 20 to 21 upgrade when released around the May-June timeframe. Moreover, the new utility promises to give you warnings about custom PPAs and orphaned packages, reducing your worries before upgrading. Honestly, this will be one of the best tools that the Mint team brings to the table for their users.
Other updates
Not only these updates, but the team also informed that the file transfer tool Warpinator is used by several users worldwide for some strange use cases – which the team never thought of before. For example, people used Warpinator to transfer files between Windows and Steam deck from Valve, displayed here.
With that said, Warpinator now has a BETA release for iOS users. You can now quickly transfer files between your Apple systems to any other system, including Android, Linux, or Windows. Fantastic piece of application from the team.
You can read about Linux Mint 21 announcement and more in the official blog.
