If you’re a loyal Linux Mint user who’s often thought: “I wish it was easier to peek at my desktop while I work”, you’re in luck.
The Linux Mint team has said it will replace the “show desktop” launcher item in the Cinnamon panel with a new “corner bar” item instead. It is similar to the “show desktop” button that debuted in Windows 7 (which I believe some third-party efforts brought to XP and Vista).
Now, lest anyone get red in the face at my mentioning of Windows I will stress that Mint’s Corner Bar is not a 1:1 clone: it’s way more customisable.
You get to choose what happens when you click on the button, or middle click on the button. And while you can quickly “peek at desktop” by hovering over the Corner Bar (just like in Windows) you are able to turn this behaviour or off per your mood.
Also, Mint has made it possible to drag files on to the Corner Bar button to reveal the desktop so you can quickly drop items there, no matter how many windows are open or otherwise obstructing your view. This is a very useful behaviour (I currently use a hot corner on GNOME to achieve something similar).
As on Windows, the corner bar is placed in the lower right of the screen. This way you don’t have to consciously think about where to move your mouse cursor too — just slam it lower right to invoke.
When can you try these changes? On that front, Mint doesn’t say. But it, along with other changes planned for Linux Mint 21.1 release due before the end of the year. It’s also possible that the Corner Bar will be back ported or made available on the current Linux Mint 21 release.