It is now possible to upgrade the Cinnamon and MATE editions of Linux Mint 17, 17.1 and 17.2 to version 17.3.

If you’ve been waiting for this I’d like to thank you for your patience.

Upgrade for a reason

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.

You might want to upgrade to 17.3 because some bug that annoys you is fixed or because you want to get some of the new features. In any case, you should know why you’re upgrading.

As excited as we are about 17.3, upgrading blindly for the sake of running the latest version does not make much sense, especially if you’re already happy and everything is working perfectly.

Make sure to read the release notes and to known the new features so you have all the information you need before deciding whether you want to upgrade.

Be selective with updates

Upgrading to 17.3 will upgrade to Rosa of course, but also apply all level 1 updates for you.

You do not need to apply level 2, 3, 4 or 5 updates to upgrade to the new version of Linux Mint, and doing so won’t apply these for you.

Level 4 and 5 updates are not recommended unless they bring solutions to issues you’re facing. Level 3 updates should be applied selectively and with caution.

Enjoy

Upgrading to 17.3 is relatively easy.

In the Update Manager, click on the Refresh button to check for any new version of mintupdate and mint-upgrade-info. If there are updates for these packages, apply them.

Launch the System Upgrade by clicking on “Edit->Upgrade to Linux Mint 17.3 Rosa”.

Follow the instructions on the screen.

Once the upgrade is finished, reboot your computer.

Additional info

  • The same upgrade path will be available for the Xfce and KDE editions, after they are released as stable 17.3.
  • Although Linux Mint 17.3 features a newer kernel, this upgrade does not change the kernel on your behalf. This is a decision only you should take. Should you decide to upgrade to 17.3’s recommended kernel you can do so by applying the “linux-kernel-generic” update, post-upgrade.
  • Your grub menu won’t be automatically updated on your behalf. After you rebooted the computer, you can trigger that update with the following command: “sudo update-grub”.
  • It is recommended to disable the screensaver before upgrading. If the screensaver activates during the upgrade and you’re unable to log back in, switch to console with CTRL+ALT+F1, log in, and type “killall cinnamon-screensaver” (or “killall mate-screensaver” in MATE). Use CTRL+ALT+F7 or CTRL+ALT+F8 to get back to your session.
  • Linux Mint 17.3 uses Ubuntu Vivid’s Xorg/MESA stack and Virtualbox guest support compiled against it. This upgrade doesn’t not impact the Xorg/MESA stack you’re already using on your system and it does not upgrade your Virtualbox guest support (which is conveniently marked as a dangerous level 5 updates after you ugprade). Post-upgrade you’ll also see new versions of ubuntu-drivers-common and bcmw-kernel-source as level 3 updates in the Update Manager. They respectively improve support for NVIDIA prime and Broadcom chipsets. Please upgrade these these with caution.

News

All editions for Linux Mint 17.2 were released and the team is now fully focused on development again.

Cinnamon was the first project to receive attention. Its power applet now shows vendor and model information, box pointers look better, and multi-monitor support was further improved: When switching workspaces, the workspace name now appears on all relevant monitors, output names (i.e. plug names) are shown alongside monitor names (in the screenshot below that allows us to distinguish two identical Dell monitors via the name of their display port).

Output names are also relevant when using xrandr or in the MDM configuration tool, to tell the login screen what monitor to use, and that’s another area we’ve been focusing on.

On Segfault, I explained how to manually set up the MDM login screen when using multiple monitors. In this development cycle we’ll also consider different ways to automate this configuration or to provide ways to generate it easily.

We’re also working on other things in Cinnamon and there are exciting plans for the other desktops and cross-desktop tools, but that’s not finished yet so I’ll talk about it another time 🙂

If you’ve been donating to us, sponsoring us or helping us in any way, thank you very very much. This is the time during the release cycle when we make the most of the freedom you’re giving us, with all the releases out, no funding or commercial aspects to worry about, all the equipment we need and a full cycle in front of us. Many thanks to you all. We’ll continue to post about new features and improvements as they get ready.

Poll of the month:

In 2013 Linux Mint created a new blog called “Segfault”, dedicated to cover technical news and stories from the development team.

Here are the reasons why it was separate from the Linux Mint blog:

  • So technical and development stories could be shared with Linux enthusiasts without getting in the way of official blog posts read by everybody
  • So developers could express themselves on a blog that was more casual and less official

95 posts later, we’d like to get your opinion on Segfault and how you think we can improve things. Don’t hesitate to vote and to comment.

[poll id=”13″]

Sponsorships:

Linux Mint is proudly sponsored by:

Platinum Sponsors:
Private Internet Access
Gold Sponsors:
Linux VPS Hosting
Silver Sponsors:
ThinkPenguin.com
Bronze Sponsors:
Vault Networks *
AYKsolutions Server & Cloud Hosting
7L Networks Toronto Colocation *
BGASoft Inc
David Salvo
Milton Security Group
Sysnova Information Systems
Community Sponsors:

To become a sponsor or to see the full list of Linux Mint sponsors, please visit: http://www.linuxmint.com/sponsors.php

Donations in July:

A total of $8,081 were raised thanks to the generous contributions of 351 donors:

$500 (11th donation), Mohammed A.
$250, Brett H. R.
$250, Anonymous
$200, Cristian M.
$150, Charles N.
$150, Andrew M.
$109, Georg S.
$100 (10th donation), Anonymous
$100 (2nd donation), martywd
$100, Teodor Oprean
$100, Jamaal S.
$100, Urban R.
$66, Js B.
$55, Vince M.
$55, Stefan N.
$55, Rainer S.
$55, Sebastian H.
$55, Donald A.
$55, Karl M. H.
$53 (2nd donation), Volker P.
$53, Tibor K. aka “tibbi
$50 (63th donation), Matthew M.
$50 (9th donation), Jon Espenschied aka “xeno”
$50 (6th donation), Anthony C. aka “ciak”
$50 (4th donation), Claus F. B.
$50 (3rd donation), Kenneth P.
$50 (2nd donation), Stephen A.
$50 (2nd donation), Mark N.
$50 (2nd donation), David G.
$50 (2nd donation), William T.
$50 (2nd donation), T. L. K.
$50, Robert F.
$50, Robert K.
$50, Curt S.
$50, Steve D. aka “taosld”
$50, Ian C.
$50, Richard D.
$50, Carl T.
$50, George P.
$50, Tomas Adamek aka “nztomas
$50, Christopher M.
$40 (2nd donation), C D. S. J.
$40, Charles R.
$40, Martin S.
$40, Julien A.
$35, Ahmet O.
$35, George S. V.
$33 (65th donation), Olli K.
$33 (4th donation), R.S.
$33 (2nd donation), Marcin Rozanski
$32 (8th donation), LDW
$32 (3rd donation), Kevin W.
$30 (3rd donation), Patrick C.
$30 (2nd donation), Christophe A.
$30 (2nd donation), Erich K.
$30, Tony C.
$30, Yogesh Pandit aka “YP”
$30, John Z.
$30, Charles V. W.
$30, James D.
$30, Darrell M.
$28, Michael V.
$27 (8th donation), Hartmann Maier aka “hkmle”
$27 (5th donation), John K. aka “jbrucek”
$27 (5th donation), Dick B. aka “Dick”
$27 (5th donation), Ky LMDE
$27 (4th donation), Anno K.
$27 (3rd donation), Samuel H.
$27 (2nd donation), Stuart H.
$27, Andre D.
$27, Michele P.
$27, Thomas L.
$27, Michele P.
$27, Felix N.
$26, Rebel450
$26, Vincent S.
$25 (46th donation), Ronald W.
$25 (8th donation), Anthony F H.
$25 (8th donation), Peter D.
$25 (5th donation), Curt Vaughan aka “curtvaughan ”
$25 (3rd donation), Kwan L.
$25 (3rd donation), Michael C.
$25 (2nd donation), aka “Caturix
$25 (2nd donation), Grant W.
$25 (2nd donation), Jeffrey V.
$25 (2nd donation), Frances K.
$25, Alan C.
$25, Graham J.
$25, David J.
$25, Earl V.
$25, Andrew G.
$25, aka “Leib-Husaren”
$25, Carla S.
$25, Robert O.
$25, Ronald L.
$25, Brian K.
$25, William G.
$25, Wyatt B.
$25, Mark N.
$25, Jason F.
$25, Yuriy M.
$25, Jeffrey B.
$25, Barry D.
$25, Raymond T.
$25, Jon C.
$25, Ekkhard H.
$25, William D. W.
$22 (3rd donation), Anthony M.
$22 (2nd donation), Juan T.
$22 (2nd donation), Martin D.
$22, Mathieu S.
$22, Philipp L.
$22, Alexander L.
$22, Marcel S.
$22, Enrique S.
$22, Yvan R.
$22, Thomas R.
$22, Antonio H. S.
$21 (5th donation), Touko N.
$21 (4th donation), Geoff_P
$21 (2nd donation), Dr. H. L.
$21, Kirsten N.
$21, Rojer T.
$21, Regina S.
$21, Romain G.
$21, Christopher D.
$21, Hendrik A.
$21, Kai K.
$20 (7th donation), Jobs Near You aka “Find Jobs
$20 (4th donation), Peter J.
$20 (4th donation), Alistair G.
$20 (4th donation), Gregg L.
$20 (3rd donation), Sven A.
$20 (3rd donation), William H.
$20 (3rd donation), Dave G.
$20 (3rd donation), Brandon W.
$20 (2nd donation), Meiko M.
$20 (2nd donation), a donor
$20 (2nd donation), James K.
$20 (2nd donation), Brian G.
$20 (2nd donation), Joshua P.
$20 (2nd donation), Walt B.
$20, Peter R.
$20, Robert B.
$20, David K.
$20, Claus P.
$20, John V.
$20, Ioanis M.
$20, Amer E.
$20, Eric R.
$20, Kevin E.
$20, Mark L.
$20, James W.
$20, Jose T. aka “LibertarianFreethinker”
$20, Ainsley M.
$20, Paul B.
$20, Paul N. S.
$20, J W.
$20, Sergio D. M. F.
$20, E-Smurf Web & Software Development
$20, Emil A. H.
$20, aka “mumeiyamibito
$20, JW
$17, Anonymous
$16 (2nd donation), anonymous
$16, Nikolai D. aka “BlueHat
$16, Aaron M.
$16, Johannes B.
$15 (2nd donation), Michel C.
$15, Geoff M.
$15, Tim T.
$15, Thomas W.
$15, Evan R.
$15, Larry P.
$14 (3rd donation), aka “SSKA”
$13.37 (4th donation), Bolko S. aka “Lokalpatriot”
$13.09, Francisco Z. C.
$12 (4th donation), HJI aka “Hospital Jobs Inc
$12, Piotr K.
$11 (21st donation), Raymond E.
$11 (20th donation), Mark W.
$11 (6th donation), Ke C.
$11 (5th donation), Kulistov V. aka “Q_List”
$11 (4th donation), Richard S.
$11 (3rd donation), Tihomir S.
$11 (2nd donation), Kevin M.
$11 (2nd donation), Eduardo M. C.
$11, Tobias S.
$11, Joop J. J. S.
$11, Artring
$11, Arthur K.
$11, Dietmar Blaschko
$11, Illya D.
$11, Phe R.
$11, Bruno G.
$11, Arcangelo N.
$11, Ondřej Kolín aka “kolega
$11, David S.
$11, Antonello G.
$11, Kiro Z.
$11, Paolo S.
$11, Jonathan Farrugia
$11, Annette T.
$11, Marcel E.
$11, Björn H.
$11, David V.
$11, Johannes B.
$11, Jean-marc B.
$11, Nitram
$11, Jerker M.
$11, Emanuele P.
$10 (6th donation), Libertad Tecnologica
$10 (5th donation), Hormis K.
$10 (5th donation), Antoine T.
$10 (4th donation), Michael H. aka “hikiboi1969”
$10 (3rd donation), Hubert Banas
$10 (3rd donation), Michael D.
$10 (3rd donation), Nutu T.
$10 (3rd donation), Claudia S.
$10 (3rd donation), Murat Kutluer
$10 (3rd donation), Bjørn A.
$10 (2nd donation), Roland H.
$10 (2nd donation), David H.
$10 (2nd donation), Masaomi YOSHIDA
$10 (2nd donation), Edson P.
$10 (2nd donation), Henry R.
$10 (2nd donation), David B.
$10 (2nd donation), Dave B.
$10, Michael P. B.
$10, Aleh N.
$10, Thomas S.
$10, James F.
$10, Robert M.
$10, Akshat S.
$10, Daniel S.
$10, Ivan R. aka “ivansabik”
$10, Diego Bezerra
$10, James R.
$10, Grab Your Market
$10, Макаров П.
$10, Geir O. H.
$10, Alexander Z.
$10, Michael F.
$10, Mik aka “mikstico”
$10, Stuart M.
$10, Kiril P.
$10, aka “jazzi”
$10, Juan V. aka “The Original FastQ 1991”
$10, Eliecer C.
$10, Humberto Beneduzzi
$10, Scott C.
$10, Philbert K.
$10, Chan S. H.
$10, Dale M.
$10, Danny B.
$10, Kevin D.
$10, Kwong H. W.
$10, Tung-Yi Chen aka “Tic”
$10, Brandon R.
$10, S H.
$10, Mark H.
$10, Eric L.
$10, Dilpreet S.
$10, Yours Truly
$10, Michael V.
$8.5, Ken W.
$8, Somashekhar G.
$8, Benjamin S.
$8, Adam C.
$7.5 (3rd donation), Hans H.
$7 (3rd donation), José J. A. A.
$7, John Ramsay
$7, Zachary S.
$6, Frederick F. J.
$5 (18th donation), Carlos W.
$5 (10th donation), frisky
$5 (10th donation), Toronto Maple Leafs Blog
$5 (10th donation), Crusader
$5 (9th donation), Crusader
$5 (6th donation), Kevin O. aka “Kev”
$5 (4th donation), Stefan M.
$5 (4th donation), Sonmez S.
$5 (4th donation), Casper M.
$5 (3rd donation), Benjamin T.
$5 (3rd donation), José J. A. A.
$5 (3rd donation), Endijs L.
$5 (3rd donation), Andjelko Stojsin aka “Andjelko S.
$5 (2nd donation), Daniela K.
$5 (2nd donation), Thiago Ponte
$5 (2nd donation), Alfons B.
$5 (2nd donation), Andjelko Stojsin aka “Andjelko S.
$5 (2nd donation), Alberto Medici
$5, Michael B.
$5, Kshitij M.
$5, Patrick L.
$5, Zahra B.
$5, Matt T.
$5, Yusuf B.
$5, Christian T.
$5, mjutu
$5, Kesatria N.
$5, Christian H.
$5, Paweł B.
$5, Mintnix
$5,
$5, Josh S.
$5, Rodrigo Q.
$5, John O.
$5, Aaron C.
$5, Victor Apkarian
$5, Ravindra J.
$5, Jacqueem S. aka “Go Live Lively
$5, Oskari P.
$5, Donald J. S.
$5, Paul S.
$4 (3rd donation), Renate J.
$4 (2nd donation), aka “SSKA”
$4, Kai-ming L.
$4, Clent W.
$3.5, Eamonn C.
$3.13 (3rd donation), Chetverikov K.
$3 (7th donation), RoDi – IT služby
$3 (2nd donation), Акарачкин С.
$3 (2nd donation), Jacqueem S. aka “Go Live Lively
$3, Hakan A.
$3, Fabio
$3, Cuneyt B.
$2.95, Hans H.
$2.8, Rick Daniel aka “araishikeiwai
$2.5 (3rd donation), Peter Robert Jones
$2.5, Julien G.
$25.63 from 20 smaller donations

If you want to help Linux Mint with a donation, please visit http://www.linuxmint.com/donors.php

Rankings:

  • Distrowatch (popularity ranking): 3119 (1st)
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The following OEM installation images are now available:

Reminder: OEM images are for computer vendors and manufacturers. They allow Linux Mint to be “pre-installed” on a machine which is then used by another person than the one who performed the installation. After an OEM installation, the computer is set in such a way that the next reboot features a small setup screen where the new user/customer has the ability to choose his/her username, password, keyboard layout and locale.

Note: “No-codecs” ISOs are also available for magazines and distributors at http://www.linuxmint.com/release.php?id=25