The Linux Mint team recently released Linux Mint 17.1—a somewhat minor but still welcome upgrade to the Ubuntu-based ecosystem. And while Linux Mint 17.1 arrives as it usually does (a few weeks after the release of a new version of Ubuntu), version 17.1 is not based on Ubuntu's latest effort, 14.10. Instead, this edition of Mint remains tied to the last Long Term Support (LTS) release, Ubuntu 14.04.

This marks the first time Linux Mint has not used the newest version of Ubuntu for a release. But if you paid attention to the curious approach of Linux Mint 17.0, you'll know that was the plan all along. These days, Mint will not be changing its Ubuntu base again until the next LTS release—Ubuntu 16.04—arrives in 2016. And at first glance, it might seem like a bad thing. After all, Mint is missing out on whatever new stuff is in Ubuntu 14.10 (in this case it's not much, but 15.04 will have plenty of changes).

However, Mint 17.1 is in fact a very good sign for fans of the distro's own tools, like its homegrown Cinnamon desktop. By relying on a consistent LTS release, Mint developers can more or less ignore the base system. Instead of spending all their time and effort making sure whatever Ubuntu has changed works with Mint, they can focus on what makes the ecosystem great—namely, its two primary desktops, MATE and Cinnamon.

Linux Mint 17.1—a new leaf

While most of what's new in Mint 17.1 will be seen in the updated desktops, there are some common components to both Cinnamon and MATE. While accessing some of these new tools varies slightly by desktop, the results are the same in both. Right away, you'll notice the login screen is among these new and improved elements.

If you start the Mint installation process and walk away, you'll likely come back to an image slideshow that's slowly flipping through all the various wallpapers that Mint 17.1 offers. The choices are vast, since Mint 17.1 contains not only wallpapers that are new with this release but all the options that came with every previous Mint release. Suffice it to say that if you need an aesthetic desktop refresh, Mint 17.1 has you covered.

The slideshow is a nice touch, and you can control how it behaves with the Login Window Preferences menu. This menu now has Theme, Auto Login, and Options items to access different settings. There's also a theme preview button to test out other available choices (or any options you install yourself).

While the newly polished login screen is nice, a far more useful change comes in the form of a revamped Update Manager. Mint has been refining this for some time now. The last release saw the introduction of some new icons and a numbered rating system that lets you know which updates are essential and which can be safely ignored. Mint 17.1 builds on those improvements with a new feature that groups package updates together based on source package.

That is, rather than just list every new package that's going to be updated, Mint 17.1 will group everything you need to update in a single package—say, LibreOffice—into one line in the Update Manager. Select the update and you can see the individual packages listed in the bottom pane. If you want more information on what's new, there's a Changelog tab that will download details on what's new in that package.

The new grouping system will help users avoid selectively updating packages and potentially breaking the whole because not every necessary part is up to date. Mint's lead developer Clement Lefebvre described how it used to be on the distro's site: "When a developer fixes a bug or writes new features, the source code is modified and all packages which are related to it become available under a new version... it is therefore futile and sometimes dangerous to apply some package updates and not others within the same source package." But because Mint 17.1 groups updates, you'll never apply something incomplete. It's now considerably easier to review exactly what's being updated in each source package because everything is shown together in one place.

Among other notable tweaks, the Update Manager in Linux Mint 17.1 features a redesigned kernels menu that makes it easier to see security updates and any regressions in each kernel update. Linux Mint 17.1 also ships with a new font, Google's Noto font, which is Google's attempt to create a font family that supports all the world's languages. And while the trademark minty green is still the default, Mint's theme gets quite an overhaul in this release. Those that don't like the default green can banish it in favor of quite a few new colors, and there are a number of dark-on-light theme options available if the default light-on-dark interface isn't what you want.





As noted previously, this release sticks with the Ubuntu 14.04 base, meaning the kernel is v3.13. That's a little behind what most distros released in the last couple of months are using. If you're already running Mint 17 without issues, then you'll likely be fine with 3.13. The main issue you may run into is if you have any brand new hardware that requires a newer kernel for full support.

On the other hand, one bit of hardware that does get some love in this release is the single-button trackpad (like, for example, those used in Apple laptops). If you're planning to run Mint on a Macbook of some kind, this release is a must-have. Be sure to check out the new Mouse and Touchpad panel in the System Settings, which now allows you to configure which actions apply to two-finger and three-finger clicks (by default it's right and middle click, respectively).

Listing image by LinuxMint.com