Yesterday’s announcement that Linux Mint struck a deal with toy maker Mattel and Redmond-based software giant Microsoft was an obvious April Fools prank. You didn’t really believe that Linux Mint would discontinue all current editions in favor of a “Masters of the Universe Edition” for boys, a “Barbie Edition” for girls, and a "Microsoft Professional Edition” for small and medium sized companies, now did you?

The Linux Mint team is not discontinuing any edition. Quite the opposite, two new releases have been announced by Lead Linux Mint Developer Clem Lefebvre. The first to be announced was the final version of Linux Mint 8 LXDE Community Edition.

“The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 8 “Helena” LXDE Community Edition. Based on Linux Mint 8 Main Edition, Linux 2.6.31, Openbox 3.4.7.2, PCManFM 0.5.2, and Xorg 7.4, Linux Mint 8 LXDE Edition features a complete and familiar desktop experience while being low on resource usage and is suitable for a good variety of older hardware,” said Lefebvre.

Here is what you can expect to get from Linux Mint 8 “Helena” LXDE Community Edition

• - Based on Linux Mint 8 Main Edition, Linux 2.6.31 kernel, Xorg 7.4, Openbox 3.4.7.2, PCManFM 0.5.2
• - Exaile Music Player
• - The Software Manager, Package Manager and Terminal have been added to the top level menu
• -And all the improvements in Linux Mint 8 “Helena” (see here).

The second release to be announced by Lead Linux Mint Developer Clem Lefebvre is Linux Mint 8 Xfce Community Edition – the final version obviously.

“The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 8 “Helena” Xfce Community Edition. Based on Xubuntu 9.10 Karmic Koala, Linux 2.6.31, Xfce 4.6.1 and Xorg 7.4, Linux Mint 8 “Helena” Xfce CE features a lot of improvements and the latest software from the Open Source World,” said Lefebvre.

Here are the Linux Mint 8 Xfce highlights:

• Based on Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic koala, Linux 2.6.31 kernel, Xfce4.6.1 and Xorg 7.4
• The graphical interface is now easier to use and it shows more content
• The Update Manager will automatically inform the user when a new version of mintInstall-data is available. This way the user does not have to manually refresh the Software Manager.
• Software Manager is aware of the APT status of each application.
• The user can mark several applications for installation/removal.
• The looks of the Update Manager have been improved.
• You can resize the Update Manager and, in the view menu, you can define the visible columns in the list of updates.
• The user can define a list of packages for which updates will not be received.
• Update Manager now uses Synaptic to refresh the list of update. When Update Manager is visible, the user will see progress information on the screen.
• If a problem occurs, Update Manager displays an error message in the main window (previously the error message was displayed only in the logs).
• Software Sources tool can be accessed in the Edit menu (this is another Update Manager improvement).
• The user can define a list of packages for which updates will not be received. Wildcard characters can be used to define groups of package updates the user wants to ignore.
• Faster and more reliable update detection.
• Xfce mintDesktop lets you enable or disable Ctrl + Alt + Backspace for restarting X per user
• Firefox comes preinstalled.
• Community editions use their own repositories
• Community editions can pin packages from the main edition.
• Mint tools are more modular they can now be installed without any configuration.
• Removed branding from Mint tools
• OEM installation can be launched from the LiveCD boot menu

If you would like to get Linux Mint 8 LXDE Community Edition, you can download it here.
If you would like to get Linux Mint 8 Xfce Community Edition, you can download it here.

If you would like to know what the upcoming Linux Mint 9 Isadora will have to offer, check out this article.