The first and last pre-stable version of what will become Linux Mint 17 has been released. It will be code-named Qiana and will be an LTS (Long-term Support) release, supported until 2019. Released installation images are for Cinnamon and MATE desktop environment only and are based on Ubuntu 14.04.

The list of new features for both desktops is impressive and I think fans of Linux Mint will love Qiana even more than previous versions. While we await the release of the stable version, which should be available in about a month, here are several screenshots from test installations I set up yesterday.

The first set of screenshots are from the test installation of Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon. This first screenshot shows the login screen.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon login

And this is the desktop, which is powered by Cinnamon 2.2.9. That wallpaper is the not default. I think you know what the default desktop background looks like. It’s not this pretty.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon desktop

The desktop showing the menu.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon menu

Another shot of the desktop showing a different view of the menu.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon menu

The Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon desktop with an application dock on the right edge. The dock comes from an extension called CinnDock 2. CinnaDock Plus
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon CinnDock 2

This screenshot shows the dock’s settigns.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon Dock

An Expo view of the desktop.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon desktop Expo

The “Normal” and “Advanced” views of the System Settings have been discontinued. Now the modules are arranged by category, just like in the control centers of other desktop environments. This is much better.
Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon Settings

I’m not a big fan of MATE, but for those that still use it, here are a few screenshots from my test installation. This one below shows the login screen.
Linux Mint 17 MATE login

And here is a shot of the desktop. No, that beautiful wallpaper is not the default.
Linux Mint 17 MATE desktop

The desktop showing the menu.
Linux Mint 17 MATE desktop menu

One last screenshot of the Linux Mint 17 MATE desktop showing a different view of the menu.
Linux Mint 17 MATE menu

If you want to test-drive this pre-stable version of Linux Mint 17 before the final version is released, 32- and 64-bit installation images of the Cinnamon flavor are available here and the MATE installation images here. For the list of new features on Cinnamon, click here. For MATE, click here.