Linux Mint 21.3: Its First Official Release with Wayland Support

Linux Mint 21.3 is now available to download, reports the blog OMG Obuntu.

It's the first version to offer Wayland support in its Cinnamon desktop:

Following a successful bout of bug-busting in last month's beta release, Mint devs have gone ahead and rubber-stamped a stable release. Thus, you can reasonably expect to not encounter any major issues when installing or using it... [I]t's based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS and continues to use the Linux 5.15 kernel by default, but newer kernels are available to install within the OS...

In my own testing I find Cinnamon's Wayland support to be well-rounded. It's not perfect but I didn't hit any major snafus that prevented me from working (though admittedly I did only attempt 'basic' tasks like web browsing, playing music, and adding applets). However, Cinnamon's Wayland support is in an early state, is not enabled by default, and Linux Mint devs expect it won't be good enough for everyone until the 23.x series (due 2026) at the earliest. Still, try it out yourself and see if it works for you. Select the 'Cinnamon on Wayland (Experimental)' session from the login screen session selector, and then login as normal...

Additionally, the latest version of Mozilla Firefox is pre-installed (as a deb, not a Snap)


Among the new features are a whole new category of desktop add-ons — 'Actions' — which upgrade the right-clicking context menu. (So for.iso files there's two new choices: 'Verify' or 'Make bootable USB stick'.)

The article says there's also 'a raft of smaller refinements,' plus 'a bevvy of buffs and embellishments' for Linux Mint's homegrown apps.

Any Linux Mint users reading Slashdot? Share your thoughts or experiences in the comments...

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