I tried the new Linux Mint 22.3 – it’s a masterclass in polish and quality-of-life fixes

January 12, 2026 TH Author

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

The latest Linux Mint is a solid release for everyday use.
The biggest improvements are to be found in its default Cinnamon desktop.
Mint Zena provides more information than ever on what your hardware’s doing.

Linux Mint 22.3 Zena is a classic point release. There’s nothing earth‑shattering in this release, but it boasts polish, quality‑of‑life fixes, and Cinnamon desktop refinements. This update makes Mint, once more, one of the best desktops for people who just want their PC to work. If you liked Mint 22.1 and 22.2, 22.3 feels like the next logical distro you’ll want to live in until Mint 22.x is no longer supported in 2029.

Under the hood, Mint remains boring but good. Linux Mint 22.3 sticks with the Ubuntu 24.04 Long Term Support (LTS) base, updated to 24.04.3. This tech provides a conservative, well‑tested foundation with current hardware support rather than a brand-new Linux distribution. Not, mind you, that there’s anything wrong with leading, bleeding-edge Linux distros, such as System76’s Pop!OS 24.04 with its brand-spanking new COSMIC desktop.

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Mint’s latest kernel is Linux 6.14. With this kernel and a refreshed driver set, newer Intel and AMD laptops, GPUs, and Wi‑Fi chipsets are more likely to ‘just work’ out of the box. Additionally, thanks to its improved NTSYNC driver, if you like to play Windows games or run Windows programs on Linux, you’ll see better performance.

Mint, however, is also using Canonical’s Hardware Enablement (HWE) stack. This modified kernel includes the latest Linux kernel hardware improvements. That approach means Mint comes with driver improvements up to the newest kernel, Linux 6.18.

However, the Mint team warns you in its Mint 22.3’s release notes that this kernel has issues with VirtualBox and old Nvidia cards that still rely on the no-longer-supported 470 driver. I use VirtualBox regularly and haven’t seen any problems, but be careful out there.

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For my testing, as usual, I checked out the new Mint on my 2020 Dell Precision 3451, powered by an 8-core 3GHz Intel i7-9700 CPU. The PC has 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. I’m also using Mint 22.2 on my 2024 HP Pavilion Desktop TP01-223. This computer has an eight-core 3.8 GHz AMD Ryzen 7 processor, 16GB RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The PC also has integrated AMD Radeon Graphics.

On both PCs, Mint ran almost perfectly. The exception was manually adjusting VirtualBox’s graphics settings. That requirement, unfortunately, is true for almost any PC running VirtualBox with the 6.14 kernel. This concern isn’t a Mint problem; it’s a VirtualBox issue.

The rest of Mint’s built-in software worked fine. This software includes, as always, LibreOffice 24.2.72.2 for office work and homework, Firefox 146 for web browsing, and Thunderbird 128.14 for email and calendaring. If you’re a gamer, Linux Mint supports Steam, which lets you run games just like you would on Windows. This capability is all bundled for free.

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The System Reports tool has been given new features. In honor of this, the tool has been renamed System Information. You can now look at your USB, BIOS, GPU, and PCI configuration. You might not use this tool regularly, but if your hardware goes awry, the information it provides is valuable. There’s also a new System Administration menu. For now, all this menu provides is more control over how your PC boots up.

Linux Mint lets you see under your computer's hood. — Screenshot by sjvn/ZDNET

The biggest improvements are in Cinnamon, Mint’s default desktop. Cinnamon 6.6 has a redesigned menu, improved input handling, and solid groundwork for Wayland and modern multi‑monitor setups. This is Mint doing what it does best: evolving a traditional desktop instead of chasing fads. If you prefer, the Mint versions with Xfce 4.18 and MATE 1.26 are also available.

Cinnamon’s new application menu uses a sidebar layout for your avatar, places, and favorites. This setup makes it faster to jump to what you actually use without going through nested categories. It also includes improvements to hot corners in full-screen, better workspace switching, and more flexible tiling options.

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Cinnamon’s window manager, Muffin, has a raft of changes for better Wayland compatibility. Indeed, a clear theme in 22.3 is preparing Cinnamon for a world where Wayland and touch devices are normal rather than unusual. Mint still defaults to X.Org for most users, but the groundwork here matters if you plan to keep the same install over several years.

You’ll also notice Mint now uses simple, monochrome icons throughout applications for buttons, menus, and status indicators. This switch is not a Cinnamon change. These are XApp Symbolic Icons (XSI). Their job is to provide a universal set of icons for applications that scales cleanly at different sizes and remains clear in both light and dark interface themes. I find the icons on the dull side, but I understand it’s handy to have icons that look and work the same no matter what program you’re using. That’s why, for example, we still have floppy disk icons for saving files, even though no one born in the last 20 years is likely to have ever used a floppy drive.

Linux Mint's XSI icons — Screenshot by sjvn/ZDNET

Linux Mint has always lived or died on little touches that matter when you’re working all day, and 22.3 continues that tradition with a bunch of ‘of course it should do that’ fixes. None of these fixes would sell a press conference, but together they make the desktop feel better than ever.

For example, the Nemo file manager now supports pausing and resuming file operations, which is significant if you move large files around or work with external drives. Since I transfer gigabytes of data from my local system to the cloud and back again, I like this feature a lot on those days when my internet is hiccupping.

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There have also been improvements in Mint’s backup programs, Timeshift and Mint Backup. TimeShift takes snapshots of system files (root filesystem, critical config), allowing the operating system to be rolled back to a previous working state after a bad update, driver, or config change. If you’re a Windows user, think of Windows System Restore, and you’ve got it. Mint Backup protects your personal files and settings. They complement each other rather than overlap.

Timeshift, Mint’s backup program, can also now pause and resume snapshots. This capability makes scheduled backups easier if something goes wrong on the server or cloud you’re using to back up your system configuration. Mint Backup, with its new ‘Include All’ button, makes it simple to add all your hidden files and folders to your backup. I recommend using this setting, since many Linux programs need those files and folders to properly use your saved data.

Finally, the default shutdown timer delay is now 10 seconds rather than 90 seconds. That time is handy when a stubborn application is refusing to turn off.

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Want to check the new Mint out for yourself? You can now download Mint 22.3. If you’re already running an earlier version of Mint 22, use the Update Manager to update your software, and you’ll be given the choice of upgrading straight to 22.3. No fuss, no muss.

Zena is not trying to reinvent the Linux desktop. It’s trying to make your day a little less annoying, and it mostly succeeds. If you run an earlier 22.x release, this upgrade is a no‑brainer. If you’re coming from Windows or a more experimental distro, 22.3 is exactly the sort of sane, predictable desktop that will make Linux feel like home.