End of Life Announcement: Linux Mint 8 'Helena'

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 05 Apr 2011

Just like Linux Mint 6 'Felicia' and Linux Mint 7 'Gloria', Linux Mint 8 'Helena' will reach end of life. Lead Linux Mint Developer Clem Lefebvre announced that on Friday, the 29th of April, Linux Mint 8 will reach end of life. Ubuntu 9.10, on which Linux Mint 8 is based on, will reach end of life on the 29th as well.

What does end of life mean? It means that updates and security fixes for Linux Mint 8 will no longer be released. You could stick with the operating system, but don’t expect to get any more updates and fixes. Instead of sticking with the defunct OS, Lefebvre advises 'Helena' users to migrate to Linux Mint 9 'Isadora' which is a Long Term Release (LTS).

Linux Mint 9 LTS 'Isadora' will be supported for two more years. For additional information on this operating system check out this article.

“Linux Mint 8 Helena will reach end of life on April 29th, 2011. This release was based on Ubuntu 9.10 which is planned to reach end-of-life at the same date,” said Lefebvre. “Repositories will remain open for another while but no more updates or security fixes will be made available. Users of Linux Mint 8 Helena are asked to migrate to Linux Mint 9 LTS Isadora (Long Term Release which will be supported until April 2013).”

If you want to migrate to the latest and greatest Linux Mint version, then you can forget about Linux Mint 9 'Isadora' and take a look at Linux Mint 10 'Julia'. Here are the main new bits and pieces 'Julia' brings to the table:

Welcome screen
Codecs can be installed from the welcome screen
You can upgrade to the DVD edition from the welcome screen

Menu
Freshly installed applications are highlighted
It is now easier to find and install applications because the menu is aware of what's available in your repositories so you can search for software and install packages without opening the software manager.
The menu also works as search engine
The menu supports GTK bookmarks and GTK Themes

Update Manager
You can right click a package and instruct the Update Manager to ignore updates for that particular package.
The size of selected updates is now displayed

Upload Manager
The system tray icon is now launched automatically at startup by Linux Mint if services are defined.
The File Uploader merged with Upload Manager
Check connection’ button to test a connection while defining
Uploads can run in the background
Uploads can be canceled

Looks
Linux Mint 10 features the new Mint-X theme which is like the traditional light theme and dark background, but with the illusion of a metallic looking theme.

Apps
Linux Mint 10 comes with Adobe Flash Square and Oracle Virtualbox.

System Improvements

Faster, more reliable "highlight" command, used by "apt"
You will no longer get a warning when using unsigned repositories
Codecs are now tracked by "mint-meta-codecs" and applications included in the DVD edition are tracked by "mint-meta-gnome-dvd"
The mintsystem adjustment system is now LSB compliant.


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