The Linux Mint team have released the KDE and Xfce spins of Linux Mint 18.2 Sonya as betas. The move comes less than two weeks since the Cinnamon and MATE editions were released for testing. With the time delay between the two sets of releases, it might mean that we see the KDE and Xfce spins released in a stable capacity a few weeks after the Cinnamon and MATE editions become stable.
The Xfce and KDE editions both include the core changes that were present in the Cinnamon and MATE editions, however, changes have been introduced pertaining to the Xfce desktop environment.
According to the changelog, the Xfce edition has the following changes and updates:
“The Whisker application menu was upgraded to version 1.7.2
- Launchers can now be edited from the context menu.
- Desktop actions are now supported.
- Category names can be hidden in the preferences.
- Applications load immediately.
- This new version also brings translation updates and bug fixes.
The xfwm4 window manager was upgraded to version 4.13 to bring the following improvements:
- Vsync support to prevent screen tearing.
- Support for scaled cursor when zooming.
- Bug fixes and I18n improvements.”
The KDE edition of Linux Mint 18.2 remains on KDE Plasma 5.8 but it will see the core applications such as the update manager and the software source program getting updated.
Linux Mint 18.2 will be available through the Update Manager menus if you’re on Linux Mint 18.1 or 18.0. If you don’t want to update your system to 18.2, that’s fine, all older releases of Linux Mint 18 will continue to be updated with security patches until 2021.
Source: Linux Mint (KDE announcement & XFCE announcement)