Linux Mint 22.3 has been released
The Linux Mint 22.3 update is now available, the new version of the distro is called “Xena”. It comes with some big changes and some new tools. The update is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and comes with Linux kernel 6.14. Mint 22.3 comes with the Cinnamon 6.6 desktop, which has improved support for keyboard layouts and input methods.
It also brings a new Start menu with a sidebar that houses the user avatar and important shortcuts on the left, while the categories section, favorites, etc. on the right. Each item on the right panel has a description that explains what the corresponding tool does. Users can customize the layout of menus, and move system buttons. The sidebar can be disabled from Settings.
Mint 22.3 has renamed the System Report tool to System Information, the app has several new features to help users get more information about their computer’s components, plugged in devices, and troubleshoot common problems. The second new app introduced in Mint 22.3 is the System Administration Tool, which as its name suggests, is for system admins. It lets users manage their boot menu and configure boot parameters.
Mint 22.3 comes with various quality of life improvements. Apps on the panel (taskbar) now display an unread count badge for notifications. Users can now pause or resume snapshots. Night Light has a new applet that now lets you keep it permanently enabled. The Warpinator app can be used to send text messages, it also supports IPv6.
Linux Mint 22.3 Xena There is a long term support release (LTS), it will be supported until 2029.
Samsung Internet Browser now available for Windows
Samsung has released its own web browser, Samsung Internet, for Windows. The app, which comes preloaded on the company’s Android mobile phones, is quite popular among users, especially due to the fact that it has a built-in ad blocker. The Windows version of the browser, which is based on Chromium, was launched as a beta a few months ago. it is Now available to all users.
And like its mobile version, the desktop browser blocks ads and trackers out of the box. Samsung Internet also supports extensions that are available on the Chrome Web Store. The browser’s design is similar to One UI, which is used on Samsung phones and tablets. Samsung Internet comes with Samsung Pass, which is used to sync passwords, biometric data between devices. And like many modern browsers, Samsung Internet also supports some AI features. These are part of Galaxy AI, and let users translate content on web pages or summarize pages.
OpenAI launches ChatGPT translation
OpenAI launches a new standalone tool called chatgpt translation. The AI-powered service is capable of translating content between 50+ languages. All you have to do is type or paste some text into one of the fields, and select the language in which the AI needs to translate it. Interestingly, the tool also offers prompts to optimize the translation. You can choose one of the presets to make it more streamlined, or to make it in a business formal style, or for an academic audience, or to make it as if you’re explaining to a child.
And, it’s not limited to just text, at least on mobile devices. ChatGPT Translate works with voice, so you can talk to it to get translations on your phone. In addition, ChatGPT Translate also supports images that you upload, i.e. it can detect text in photos and translate them. While this seems impressive, it can be time consuming if it has to compete with the many tools Google Translate offers, such as translating documents or web pages.
Spotify Premium prices increased in the US
Spotify has increased the price of its Premium subscription in the US. The music streaming service last raised its prices in the US in June 2024, but a new hike was expected, given that prices were raised in some markets in August 2025. According to an email the company is sending out to customers, the price of Spotify Premium is increasing by $1 starting from the next billing date, going from $11.99 to $12.99 per month.
Spotify Student Plan Price is also increasingFrom $5.99 to $6.99, while the price of Spotify Duo has increased by $2, from $16.99 to $18.99. The Spotify Family plan is also being increased from $19.99 to $21.99. Spotify has also raised its subscription prices in Estonia and Latvia.
Data from Bureau of Labor Statistics indicates that the price of streaming services is set to increase by approximately 20% in December 2025. Another research shows Netflix sees a 14% increase in ad-supported tiers Compared to last year, but Amazon’s Prime Video has the most subscribers in the streaming service sector with almost 40% active users.
Firefox 147 update brings Safe Browsing V5, WebGPU to Macs
Mozilla released Firefox 147 update this week, the new version adds support for the Safe Browsing V5 protocol, which is a big improvement. Previously, Mozilla relied on Google’s Safe Browsing to check websites to protect users from dangerous websites. Now, with V5, Firefox uses a database of hash prefixes that it downloads from Google, containing only the first 4 bytes of the hash. Therefore, when a user accesses a website, only this part is compared with those in the list. And if it finds any dangerous domain, it connects to Google’s servers to check whether the website has been blacklisted or not.
Firefox 147 enables zero-copy playback on AMD GPUs for hardware-decoded video to improve video playback performance. Firefox now supports WebGPU on Macs powered by Apple Silicon. There is a new option in the browser that, when toggled, will automatically open a picture-in-picture player window when a video is playing and the user switches to a different tab.
Firefox for Android now supports site isolation as part of Safe Browsing to load each page in its own process, thus preventing cross-site attacks and privacy risks. If Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) is set to Strict, Firefox will use local network access restrictions by default.
