Linux Mint 21.1 Vera

Nate Drake meets Linux Mint's latest offering, code-named Vera, and comes away bowled over by its stunning looks and ease of use.

- Nate Drake

Unless you've been living under a rock these past 15 years, you'll almost certainly have heard of Linux Mint. The OS is based on Ubuntu (in the case of this release, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS), meaning you have access to almost all Ubuntu applications out of the box.

"Out of the box" should perhaps be the tagline for Linux Mint, as the developers have placed a real focus on ease of setup and deployment for desktop users. Mint comes bundled with the ability to play almost all media formats. Traditionally, this has included proprietary software such as Adobe Flash Player but FOSS enthusiasts can take comfort in the fact that the Mint installer now offers these on an opt-in basis.

Mint has a respectable choice of built-in apps. Productivity is a breeze with the LibreOffice Suite (7.3.7.2) and the Thunderbird email client (102.4.2), while media needs are catered for via the powerful Rhythmbox (3.4.4) and Celluloid (0.21) music and video players.

You may notice that these aren't necessarily the most recent versions of these programs. This is because the Linux Mint team monitors software updates carefully, making for a much more reliable system. As Vera is based on an LTS version of Ubuntu, it should not only be more stable but will remain supported until 2027.

You can also use the included Mint software manager (MintInstall) to add extra apps. The program obviously draws on GNOME Software for inspiration, so is clear and easy to navigate. By default, it supports installation of apps via both Flatpak and DEB. If a program can be installed in more than one way, you can now choose between them.