Linux Mint 8 “Helena” Xfce RC1 released!

The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 8 “Helena” Xfce Community Edition RC1.

Quick steps:

Introduction to Linux Mint 8 Xfce:

Based on Xubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, Linux 2.6.31, Xfce 4.6.1 and Xorg 7.4, Linux Mint 8 “Helena” Xfce CE features a lot of improvements and the latest software from the Open Source World.

Featured improvements in this release: OEM installation, possibility to ignore updates, configurable menu places, multiple selection in the Software Manager, new system tray File Uploader with support for drag and drop and mutiple files uploads.

For a detailed overview of the new features and improvements included in Linux Mint 8 Xfce, please read “What’s new in Helena Xfce?“.

System requirements:

  • x86 processor
  • 256 MB of system memory (RAM)
  • 3 GB of disk space for installation
  • GA graphics card capable of 800×600 resolution
  • CD-ROM drive or USB port

Important information and known issues:

As an RC (Release Candidate) this release is targeted at developers and beta-testers who want to help Linux Mint find and correct bugs before the stable release. Please do not use this release as your main desktop. For a complete list of known issues read the Release Notes.

Feedback and bug reports:

Please report any bug you may find via the Linux Mint 8 Xfce RC1 Bug Thread and give us your feedback on this release by posting a comment right here on the blog.

Download Linux Mint 8 Xfce RC1:

You can download Linux Mint 8 Xfce RC1 via torrent or via HTTP:

Size: 695MB LiveCD
MD5Sum:  15a37a56b27c1c840ba50c2bc5fe77a3

Torrent download: http://www.linuxmint.com/torrent/LinuxMint-8-Xfce-RC1.iso.torrent
HTTP download: http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=50

Africa:

Asia:

Europe:

Northern America:

Oceania:

Enjoy!

Have a lot of fun testing this release candidate and let’s all hope it will help us make a great stable release.

47 comments

  1. Sorry for the outburst, but this is so awesome.
    I love Linux Mint and XFCE, so this is the perfect combo package.
    Can’t wait for the final release.

  2. ¡Fantástico! Ayer instalé Helena XFCE y está de maravillas. Me sorprende lo veloz que trabaja.

    Fantastic! Yesterday I install Helena XFCE and is wonderful. Is really fast.

    Thanks for this awesome distro.

  3. this rocks, i like this as well as ubuntu and both do all i want. and this lets me be free of windows. great job yoou all have a new fan and i will spread the word!!!!

  4. Hi, I am just confused now. First I used Mint 8 Helena,Next it came out Mint 8 Helena KDE, then Mint 8 Helena fluxbox. I have all 3 copies. Now I see another Linux Mint 8 “Helena” Xfce RC1 released! Every time it comes out new, I downloaded. What is the difference of KDE and Xfce? It makes me confused. Now I don’t know what I should install. Could you please explain to me which one is better- KDE or Xfce? Pardon me for my lack of knowledge.
    Dean

  5. @Dean
    There are two major differences between this editions. First of all they look different. The second big difference is the selection of default applications which comes with this version. That’s all, so it is not possible to say which of them is better. It depends of your preferences. You must choose the look that is the best in your opinion. But you must also know, that different look means also different system requirements. KDE version is the most demanding, and you must have at least 1GB of RAM to use it without lags (recommended 2GB). Standard Helena 8 works fast with 512 MB of RAM (recommended 1 GB), and the XFCE version is less demanding, so you can use it even if you have for example 384 MB of RAM (512 recommended). Fluxbox is the less demanding (maybe 256 MB of RAM will be sufficient). This are not the official requirements. Let’s say that are my recommendations. So you have to choose some edition according to your personal preferences and the specs of your computer. Don’t use them all, this is the same system with different look and few different applications.
    Luc

  6. The difference between xfce and KDE is more a matter of personal taste. However xfce is better for older computers once it’s processing requirements are lower.
    KDE is a bit more eyecandy. But I use xfce with emerald and I’m very pleased with looks, speed and usability.

  7. That is up to you to decide. Gnome, KDE and Xfce is all different desktop environments. I would have tested them all to find my favorite.

  8. Dean. I will try my best to clarify your confusion. First of all read the “Oficial User Guide” in here http://ftp.heanet.ie/pub/linuxmint.com/stable/8/user-guide/english.pdf It is a good source of information for the new guys. The different Helena releases are based on different “desktop enviroment” so you choose the one or the ones you like better or performs best on your PC. Some “desktop enviroments” like fluxbox and xfce works better on older and less powerful machines. Gnome and KDE are the more popular ones and works great on newer hardware. Maybe some one else can explain it better than I did, just search for the minimum hardware requirements for each one and boot the live CD and get familiar with them. I’m sure you will enjoy Linux Mint as much as I do. Take care and all the best.

  9. Great Job on this, I have been testing it and 8 Main edition on my hardware since I found the link a few days ago.
    I have xfce up with myth, xbmc and alsa 1.0.22.1 and hdmi 7.1 audio through tested Nvidia GT210 and GT220. So far the only issue I am having is why can phyadmin not fix mounts upon reboot attaching 15 drives on every boot is a pain, the program is great but it would be better if it would auto-mount on boot and edit fstab automagically.

    Thanks for the great software.

    Dave

  10. @Dean

    Basicilly , when you use Linux, all the program windows, menu bar, close, maximize and minimize buttons are all part the desktop. The desktop can look and function in different ways. Such as Mac OS X’s desktop is very different then Windows’. Just like Linux has also different desktops. The most popular is GNOME, KDE, and XFCE.

    KDE is more graphically advance and features more effects and pictures but requires a newer 1 or 2 year old computer.

    XFCE is more simple and faster but does not have any shiny effects and pictures. It can run on very old computers

    GNOME is between XFCE and KDE that has some effects and some speed.

    Hope that helps 😛

  11. YAY!!!! The waiting is worthy!!!! I love Xfce, I have been using Xubuntu till I could be able to get Linux Mint with this nice desktop enviroment <3 Thank you so much for this!!!

    Greetings from Mexico!

  12. And here’s an article that compares Gnome, KDE, LXDE and Xfce for power consumption, RAM usage and temperature.
    http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=linux_desktop_vitals

    Dean, all of them are good but “the best” depends on your needs, preferences and hardware capabilities. If you don’t mind writing a disc for every Mint variant, then go ahead and try them one by one. Youcan do this in a single day if you don’t have more time to spend with this. However, you might be having fun, because there are significant differences between these variants and being able to try them yourself will allow you to find out which one comes more useful to you.

    Speaking for myself, I am using the main edition because I like the Mint menu and I also have enough features to do my job (I’m mostly using it at work) but I don’t need widgets and fancy stuff (available in KDE) and still… for a work environment I prefer a more mature desktop (currently Gnome), even if LXDE, Xfce and Fluxbox need fewer resources.

    It’s mainly a matter of personal taste and needs, so give each version a try and you will find out what’s best for you. Of course, you can watch movies on the internet, but actually trying the software is the most relevant approach. All of them are live disks so you can even start from your optical drive to see it without installing it.

    Good luck! 🙂

  13. Just curious how come there isn’t a 64bit version of xfce and mint?
    I really prefer xfce to gnome as far as the menus and system response…not complaining one bit, just curious.

  14. I want to try Xfce Mint. I only have 512 RAM and gnome Mint is sluggish on my old Celeron machine at home.

    Can I install Xfce mint on top of Mint gnome, thereby replacing it? Or do I have to fix(mbr) grub, and wipe the Ext3 partition, and start from scratch? I have never installed one version on top of another. Side by side, yes. A downgrade, not an upgrade, I guess is what I’m trying to do, without the mistakes that often come with the trial and error method. I might mess up my ntfs partition: I don’t want to reinstall and reactivate Windows.

    I’m dual booting with WinXP. XP runs a tad faster on my home machine than gnome Mint. Don’t know why. Should be the reverse I would have thought. But maybe it’s because I have resisted the pressure to upgrade to XP SP3, with its bloated NET frameworks 3 and lumbering IE8.

    One reason I didn’t upgrade to XP SP3 was because my Anonymizer Bitwise tunnelier client (from Anonymizer.com) doesn’t work properly with IE8, and not at all with Firefox 3.x. I’m stuck with Firefox 2.x. Likewise, I’m stuck with an older version of Zonealarm Pro. (I’m planning to get an account with a VPN service, once I properly set-up Linux Mint Xfce. I know it’s RC, but it won’t be for long. In the meantime, as a Linux newbie, I can start learning how to use the terminal and pretend there is no mouse. Remember that famous “A mouse is for people with three hands” remark? A hard-core unix/linux user, i.e., a “real” computer person doesn’t use a mouse, or a rat, or a cat, or talk to Tom & Jerry.

    Silly jokes aside, can someone tell me which is the best firewall to use with Mint? Is there one as easy to learn as Zonealarm for Windows is, with both outbound and inbound blocking, and Program control, where you can block those processes that are trying to act as internet servers (you can block them with an X mark), and so on in XP?

    IMHO, MS Windows is still useful for work, for example, using Adobe’s Creative Suite–I use it on my high-spec Vista dual-core office computer. But for other things, I am becoming convinced that Linux is the way to go and the wave of the future in computing.

    Off topic:
    There was an idea floating around in the day, about “Doors.” You clicked on a door (icon) on your desktop, and were transported to a chamber, with new wallpaper on the “walls.” The program at the same time changed–as if you were in a “holodeck” (ref. Star Trek).

    And so you worked in this (office) room for a period of time, and then, when finished, revising your documents or correcting your report, let’s say, you clicked on another door, and were transported to another chamber (program), “Conference Room,” for example (new theme, new program). That’s if you didn’t click on the door marked “Cafeteria”, to take a break. Click on the door marked Exit, and you were zoomed and whirled back where you started. 3D, stereoscopic, and almost game-like. I don’t know who copyrighted this idea, Doors(TM); might have been Xerox, but it definitely wasn’t Redmond. So it’s in the public domain, i.e., free.

    I’ve played around with a few Linux distros, including Puppy, on my Toshiba laptop. But Mint stands out as one of the best, if not the best, distro I have tried. Kudos to the developers, and cheers to the contributors.

  15. @MysticGold04

    These editions of Linux Mint are make by the forum community, not the Linux Mint team that makes the Gnome version. That’s why most of them are x32 and not x64. But if you have a x64 processor, using the x32 version will NOT make any difference if you have 1 through 4 gb of RAM. But if you have more then 4, you should use the Main Edition of Linux Mint x64.

    Hope that helps

  16. Gave it a spin yesterday on a rather old Thinkpad w. just “enough” memory (256MB). Worked OK.
    Can’t wait for the final release.

    Great job! No matter what flavor of Mint you choose 😉

  17. After running the live cd on a USB stick I have installed this on my eeepc 901 as replacement for the Fluxbox edition. I prefer XFCE and regret having removed the Mint 7 XFCE version to make way for Ubuntu which despite a separate home folder on second SSD filled the 4GB sda1 and crashed out. I also find Mint XFCE much easier to use than Xubuntu.

    Roger

  18. [..f you have 1 through 4 gb of RAM. But if you have more then 4, you should use the Main Edition of Linux Mint x64..]
    Not quite correct. KDE edition has 64-bit version.
    P.S. And yes – I bow my head to Mint-team for job they do. Thank you very very much. 1 more thing – as much I`ve seen Gnome 3 Shell (some videos are on youtube) as more I agree with a guy who wrote here that making KDE as default DE will have a future, not gnome. Just an opinion.

  19. buenas noches tengo una duda tengo linux Mint 7 sin embargo salio el 8 como que puedo hacer para instalarlo sin tener ningún problema anteriormente ubuntu 9.04 se actualizaba solo sin necesidad de bajar el sistema operativo salia una leyenda que dice que ya estaba la versión 9.10 que si queria instalarlo y le ponia aceptar, se puede hacer con Linux Mint 7 espero su respuesta y gracias por su apoyo.

    EDUARDO

  20. Hi bros, I download this edition, I’ve a problem with the resolution it’s 800×600, I can’t change it to 1024×768 please someone help.

  21. I run the Live CD and can’t find fault. This is good. Too bad the final release isn’t today ^-^

    I don’t think Mint xfce should be blamed for internal drives and partitions not automatically mounted. It’s an xfce behavior. I’ve read this in Xubuntu forum. Here are the suggested workarounds to mount your internal partitions, short of editing the fstab:

    1. Install nautilus from Synaptic. At the terminal type sudo nautilius –no-desktop . You can then supposedly navigate internal partitions just as easy as when you use Gnome.
    2. Install ntfs-config (for Windows partitions)

    Just sharing. I think that for automatically mounting partitions at boot time, you have to edit the fstab for which you can google for guides on how to do it.

  22. Installed xfce via Synaptic on Helena and loved how I can now play 1080p videos easily. Is there a way I can enable the mintmenu on the xfce taskbar?

  23. @Imhoteps

    Thanks for the correction, I think I forgot there is more then one x64 version because I’m now a KDE fan 🙂

  24. @winderix

    If you want to change your gnome edition into the xfce edition there is the way to do this. You have two possible solutions. The first is to install the Xfce package from the software management application or from command line. However this will install only Xfce, and no applications included with Mint Xfce will be intalled. The second option is to install the package Xubuntu-desktop. It will install Xfce and some applications included in Xubuntu, but not all aplications from mint Xfce. After performing installation you must log off and on the log in screen you must choose the option session. You will see the list of available sessions, and there should be also the xfce session. If you choose it, you will be logged into the Xfce desktop. However both options don’t give you the same result as installing the fresh Mint Xfce edition. The result can look different and will have few other applications, so you will have to spend some more time to configure your system. I think that it’s better to install the new version from zero. But you don’t have to do anything with your grub or with your partitions. You can simply download the Xfce version, burn the cd, and start the installation normally. When system asks you where to install the new system, just choose the same partition as for Gnome version. The partition will be formatted, and your system will be replaced by Xfce version. Grub will be installed automatically and it should detect your Windows installation, so you don,t have to re-install Windows. Installation will format only the Mint partition (or partitions).
    Well firewall…. There is a firewall included in mint, but it is disabled by default. I don’t know if there is the GUI for firewall in Xfce version. You can install GUFW to configure the firewall. It is very simple in terms of usability, but it has very few options, so don’t expect too much. Here you have some article concerning the same tool in ubuntu:
    http://linuxbsdos.com/2009/11/07/install-a-graphical-firewall-client-on-ubuntu-9-10/

  25. looking to switch from a windows based pc to mint or ubuntu. any info helpful. by the way my father runs ubuntu on his pc and i liked it but heard about mint, so i basicaly need help deciding which one to choose thank you

  26. Leo, Ubuntu is a great distribution and is the backbone together with Debian of Linux Mint. If you are new to Linux I recommend Linux Mint, the reason is it is much friendlier than any other distribution I know. On my machine I have both, Helena gnome main edition and KDE CE, currently I’m using more the KDE release, it is about choices, right? Give them a try and see for yourself. Hope you enjoy the freedom of running a wonderful, rock solid and stable OS. Welcome aboard.

  27. I have an Acer Aspire One (ZG5). Came with Linpus. After a year, loaded Karmic UNR. Worked fine, except no wireless out the box. Fought and lost. Tried to load Linux 4 One. Didn’t even get past the half mark. Loaded Mint Gloria. Now everything works out the box, including wireless, which is what I found out on the forums in my attempt to get wireless to work in Karmic UNR.

    I see Gloria is based on Jaunty – if Helena is going to be based on Karmic, *****PLEASE**** don’t have a broken / dysfunctional wireless package. It freaked me out that almost everyone in the help forums were having the same or similar problem with their netbooks.

    Otherwise, very impressed with Gloria’s functioning on Netbook. Interface is easy to navigate, neat and tidy and everything is there that I need. Unetbootin loaded everything into flashdrive with less time than the Karmic UNR.

    Thanks for a great distro. For the netbook, you have my vote.

  28. EDUARDO: Aca te mando una pagina que te explica como hacer la actualizacion de Linux Mint 7 al 8. Como veras siempre es mas recomendable hacer una instalacion fresca en vez de una actualizacion. Quizas te ineterese saber que en el forum hay una seccion para usuarios en español. Tambien ten en cuenta que en Mayo saldra la proxima edicion de Linux Mint 9 con importantes cambios, quizas seria mas recomendable esperar. Si necesitas traduccion de la pagina me lo dices, lo puedes traducir haciendo servir Google tambien. Un saludo.
    http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=1144

  29. Great!I love mint very much…
    Now I Still using mint7,causing there are something wrong with chinese font display in ubuntu 9.10 so as mint8,I’m hoping mint9 can solve this problem…

  30. Thanks woockash, for the info. Overwriting the old installation, I guess, should work, and my guess has been confirmed by your recommendation. But I’ll try Mint Xfce with another machine. I’m donating my Celeron machine to the church where I volunteer. They have a small computer center which is used mainly by low-income folk, who mainly use the service to check their web-based email accounts. It’s free, so they don’t have to pay an Internet Cafe by the hour for what takes not more than 15 minutes or so. The Christian version of Ubuntu is what I installed on this machine–it’s appropriate for a church setting, because of its built-in porn filter. On the Windows side you have to pay for a porn filtering program, such as Net Nanny, et al.

    About my off-topic comment about ‘Doors’, I mentioned this idea because I don’t want what happened to the Lindows distro, to happen again. Seriously, some one with the wherewithal in the Linux community should copyleft this name and concept. I don’t see why it cannot be implemented, given the new 6-core processors and compiz fusion, etc. Here’s some ad copy: “Been computing the the Age of Darkness? Let Linux Doors light your fire!” [Background music: “Come on, baby, light my fire…”]

    Thanks all.

  31. Used to run LM-KDE on this old laptop of mine, a Celeron powered machine with 512MB. But since LM6 which incorporated KDE4, it sorta felt sluggish. I sticked with KDE because I’m more at home with KDE desktop, plus having another newer desktop machine which was installed with LM-KDE as well. However, as LM8 was released, I then decided to try a less-demanding desktop, and chosen Xfce. Immediately I noticed the much more snappier desktop. Even with Compiz turned on to provide some eye candy, it’s still significantly faster than GNOME or KDE. Xfce desktop environment plus the packaged softwares aren’t too different that it required much re-learning. And I would really recommend to those with slower machines to consider Xfce as an alternative, which could potentially provide a more pleasant user experience.

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