Linux Mint developers have announced the release of the Linux Mint 21.3 Edge ISO, which is powered by Linux kernel 6.5.
The standard Linux Mint 21.3 release that arrived a few weeks back uses the Linux 5.15 LTS kernel by default. That kernel version is solid, stable, and actively supported. But it might not boot on newer hardware (i.e. released after November 2021, when Linux 5.15 was released).
While the Linux 5.15 LTS kernel is still actively supported with critical bug fixes and security patches new hardware support is not back-ported to it.
For such situations, the Linux Mint Edge ISO is recommended, as Mint devs say in their short announcement post: “This image is made for people whose hardware is too new to boot the 5.15 LTS kernel included in Linux Mint 21.x. It ships with kernel 6.5 instead.”
Because the bulk of Mint’s development, testing, and support efforts focus on the kernel used by the standard version the Edge edition might not be as stable. This is something Linux Mint say would-be users should keep in mind.
Linux kernel 6.5 aside, everything else is the same between in the regular Linux Mint 21.3 ISO and the Edge ISO.
Lots to love in the latest Linux Mint 21.3 release, including: Cinnamon 6.0 with experimental Wayland support, a raft of updates to core apps like Hypnotix, Warp, and Bulk Renamer, a new type of ‘Cinnamon Spices’, artwork updates, and more.
Want to download the Linux Mint 21.3 Edge ISO? You can get it from the same place as the other Linux downloads: the official Linux Mint website.