Linux Mint 22.3 release will be a short cycle, immediate focus is LMDE 7

According to the latest news from Linux Mint, the team is currently focusing its efforts on LMDE 7 but plans to release Linux Mint 22.3 in December. Clem Lefebvre, head of the project, said that this will be a very short release cycle and acknowledged that the previous release came out later than expected. The focus in 22.3 will be on Cinnamon and shipping key 'work in progress' features.

For those that don't know, the Linux Mint team maintains two versions of Linux Mint. The main Linux Mint version is based on Ubuntu, while LMDE is based on Debian. LMDE acts as a kind of backup for the project in case anything happens to Ubuntu.

The main priority for Linux Mint 22.3 will be the new version of Cinnamon. It’ll include a new menu, a status applet, and Wayland-compatible handling for keyboard layout and input methods.

The work on LMDE 7, codenamed “Gigi”, has already begun. The goal is to combine a Debian 13 package base with improvements from Linux Mint 22.2 and support OEM installations. The OEM support was already implemented during the Mint 22.2 cycle, which has accelerated progress. The new OEM support has been tested and is working very well, and the team is currently adapting libAdwaita changes and reapplying patches.

The upcoming LMDE 7 will only ship for amd64, as i386 is no longer fully supported upstream by Debian 13 - in 2025, most people won’t be affected by this change, but it is a shame for anyone trying to keep legacy hardware alive. A beta of LMDE 7 is expected to be released this month so that the community can test it before the final release.

Linux Mint 22.2 was released earlier this month with native fingerprint login support, improved theming, and enhancements to Mint's XApps. You can read more in our coverage.

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Posted Saturday 13 September 2025 at 3:19 am AEST (my time).

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