The beginning of December has not only brought news about the main distributions but has also brought quite a few development versions to test. The most popular and expected by many is the first beta of Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon, version that is already available for testing.
This version brings the news that the new version of Linux Mint will bring but for the moment only in Cinnamon, since it is the main desktop of the distribution and with which this first beta has been launched. Along the the next few hours the beta of Linux Mint 18.1 MATE will be launched and in a few months the corresponding with Kde and Xfce will be launched.
Among the novelties we find is better artwork and style what makes the desktop be more polished and clean in the eyes of the user. The version of Cinnamon used is 3.2 which will not only bring the novelties of this desktop such as vertical panels but also brings new options such as an improved Control System which makes the user not lose usability with this new version.
Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon first beta uses Cinnamon 3.2
It is also worth mentioning the news within Mint Update that provide detailed information on the software that we will update, what we have and what we are going to do, something ideal for the most novice users. Other operating system tools such as the X-Apps or Xed have also been improved, making them more functional for the user and better alternatives to traditional applications.
If you want to try this beta version of Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon you just have to go to this website and download the installation image. However, we recommend that you use a virtual machine to test it as the version is not stable and could damage production teams.