The Linux Mint project has just released the beta for Linux Mint 20.1. The new beta is available in the Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce flavours of Linux Mint and aside from desktop improvements, share the same set of new features.
Neowin has covered some of Linux Mint’s development updates in recent months and the work that went in then has landed in a more mature form in this beta. Highlights include a new Web Apps tool that lets you turn your favourite sites into web apps accessible from the app menu and IPTV program called Hypnotix has been created and items can be marked as favourites in the file manager on Cinnamon.
Another change in Linux Mint 20.1, which has been known for quite a while now, is the inclusion of Chromium in the repositories. Chromium had previously been removed from the Linux Mint repositories because the maintainers didn’t like that it had Snap dependencies. The Chromium that is now included is compiled directly by the Mint team and updates will be released in a timely manner.
As with the other releases in this series, Linux Mint 20.1 will continue to get updates until 2025. Those running Linux Mint 20 will be able to upgrade in a pain-free manner when Linux Mint 20.1 is stable because the base packages will remain the same. Those who choose to download the beta today won’t have to reinstall when the stable version comes out in a few weeks, instead, you just need to make sure you install available updates.
You can find the three Linux Mint 20.1 beta flavours over on the Evowise mirror which should provide decent download speeds no matter where you are in the world.