The next version of Linux Mint is going to make some interesting changes to the user experience, including a redesigned Start menu for Cinnamon. Clement Lefebvre, aka Clem, is the distro’s project and development team leader published some detailsIt is about upcoming features.
This is what the Cinnamon menu applet or Start menu looks like in its current style on Linux Mint 22.2.
Here is the dark theme version with the default menu icons.
It looks fine, and works perfectly. Notice how it blurs the last item in the list?
Additionally, there are existing options for customizing the menu.
Well, here is a screenshot of the new Start menu. It’s separate from the bottom of the screen and looks much better.
(Image courtesy: Linux Mint)
It feels like it’s wide, yet not tall, and still able to display more items. This design makes better use of screen real-estate. The sidebar is expanded and displays labels for each shortcut. Moving to the right pane, the list of app categories now uses the same 9-dot grid icon as “All Apps.” Another improvement that this menu will bring is that it has a description for each shortcut. It kind of reminds me of the Settings app on macOS.
(Image courtesy: Linux Mint)
Users will be able to choose where the system buttons are placed (Lock Screen, Log Out, Shut Down), you can choose to keep them on the left sidebar as is, or move them to the right of the search bar. Their icons have been slightly redesigned. The search bar can be moved to the bottom of the menu, and it’s customizable, so if you want to put it at the top, you can do so. If you move the system icons to the left, the search bar will become longer. A customizable Start Menu, imagine it.
The next big change for Mint users in the future is a new system reports tool. It has been rebranded as the System Information tool. But, we already have a System Info applet.
(Image courtesy: Linux Mint)
Jokes aside, Clem acknowledged that if a user wants to troubleshoot issues, such as figuring out what steps they need to take, or how to use a solution, the old tool is not good enough. The System Information tool is designed to provide additional data to help users troubleshoot common problems. There are 4 new pages including a USB page that lists devices connected via USB ports with their type, name and ID.
The GPU page contains details about the graphics card and hardware acceleration information, while the PCI page lists details about your computer’s internal components and drivers. There is a BIOS page with information about your motherboard, BIOS version, boot mode, and secure-boot.
And finally, there’s a new tool, System Administration, which has a similar UI, but it’s for admins. Currently, it only has one boot menu, where you can show/hide the boot menu, configure how long it stays open before defaulting to dual-booting/multiple kernels. Users can also add boot parameters when troubleshooting hardware issues.
(Image courtesy: Linux Mint)
When a user asked if Linux Mint 23 would improve support for Wayland sessions, i.e. switch from experimental to beta, Clem pointed out that Wayland Cinnamon does not have a screen locker, and it is a complex feature to implement. It may not be ready for Mint 23, but it is possible. This is very interesting.
Other changes are expected to arrive with Mint 22.3 in December 2025.
On a side note, LMDE6 will reach end of life on January 1, 2026. Please keep in mind that LMDE7 is 64-bit only.
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