Linux Mint 21.1 ‘Vera’ has been released and is now available to download.
This update to Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and includes a curated crop of user-interface tweaks, bug fixes, and performance improvements.
For those who tried it, there are no major changes from the Linux Mint 21.1 beta released earlier this month (and yes, if you use that beta you can upgrade to this final release).
So what’s new exactly?
Well, Linux Mint 21.1 ships with the Cinnamon 5.6 desktops environment by default. This version of Cinnamon offers a couple of new features, including a new Corner Bar applet comes enabled by default. Using Corner Bar you can it click the very end of the bottom panel to hide all windows and instantly show the desktop.
You can enable a ‘peek on hover’ effect in the Corner Bar settings (which can access from the Mint applets UI or by right-clicking on the Corner Bar and selecting ‘preferences’). There you’ll also find effect blur and opacity controls too, allowing you to create the kind of effect you want.
As Linux Mint 21.1 removes the ‘show desktop’ applet from the bottom panel (as the new Corner Bar reimplement the functionality) there’s a slight panel order change: Mint Menu stays on the far-left of the bottom panel but is now followed by a separator, and then by shortcuts for Nemo and Firefox:
Linux Mint 21.1 no longer puts icons for “Home” or “Trash” or the desktop by default. You can enable these (along with icons for mounted drivers and other items) from the Desktop Icons settings if you miss them.
Talking of icons, Linux Mint 21.1 features new folder icons. This are immediately noticeable to long-time users upon opening the Nemo file manager. Instead of a sea of muted green tones, Mint now uses bright yellow folder icons with a blue diagonal line in the bottom corner. The ‘desktop’ icon now reflects Cinnamon’s default layout.
Also changed, Linux Mint 21.1 uses ‘aqua’ as a default colour accent. The (rather iconic) green synonymous with the distro has been retired, with Mint reasoning that it doesn’t need to use green everywhere to remind people they’re using Linux Mint – they’re already aware of it!
There’s also a stylised new mouse cursor theme; and a number of popular Linux icon sets, including Ubuntu’s Yaru, the perennially-popular Papirus, and KDE’s Breeze come pre-installed — though the Mint-Y theme remains the default icon set.
Elsewhere, Linux Mint 21 gives its Driver Manager and Software Sources tools some new capabilities, including the ability to run Driver Manager in user mode (i.e., without needing a root password), and work offline. The update also intros an ISO verification tool accessed by right-clicking on an ISO image in Nemo.
Flatpak updates are now installed alongside other updates in the Update Manager, and the Software Manager UI has been refined to make it more obvious when software is Flatpak or a system package. A shortcut to Display settings is now present in the desktop’s right-click context menu.
Download Linux Mint 21.1
You can download Linux Mint 21.1 from the Linux Mint website once the release is officially announced, or grab it early from an official Linux Mint download mirror (the United Kingdom mirrors already have it).
Want to upgrade to Linux Mint 21.1 from Linux Mint 21? Just install all updates to the current version then open Update Manager, go the Edit menu, and select the “Upgrade to Linux Mint 21.1 ‘Vera'” option.