Though I could not use the Software Manager on an installation on real hardware, the Update Manager, configured to check for updates every 15 minutes, worked and has not crash. In an installation in a virtual environment where the Software Manager worked and has – so far – not crashed, the Update Manager was a problem. Every time I started it, all I got, was a blank window. A screen shot of it is shown below.
Linux Mint 12 KDE Update Manager

Final Thoughts: Though Linux Mint KDE did not make my list of the top 6 KDE distributions of 2011, Linux Mint 12 KDE would have, if it had been released when that article was written. Not that I am giving it high marks overall, but it does just work, out of the box. If the installer has support for disk encryption and LVM, then it would definitely have received very high marks from me.

Resources: Release Notes and download links for 32- and 64-bit installation images for Linux Mint 12 KDE are available here. You may peruse the full list of reviews and tutorials on Linux Mint published on this website here. The most recent articles are listed below.
[catlist name=mint numberposts=5 excerpt=yes]

Screenshots: View more screen shots from test installations of Linux Mint 12 KDE.

This is screen shot of a modified desktop showing Quick Access in Icon Mode. You may read about how to install Quick Access here.
Quick Access Widget Icon Mode

And this is of the same modified desktop showing Takeoff Launcher, a full screen menu widget. Instructions on how to install it are available here.
Takeoff Launcher on Linux Mint 12 KDE

The KDE Plasma Netbook interface showing multimedia applications installed by default.
Linux Mint 12 KDE Plasma Netbook Interface

Linux Mint forum suggestion