The new Cinnamon 2.8 desktop environment has been pushed into the open as a Beta release. The stable version of the new Cinnamon should be ready by the end of the month, but there is nothing stopping you from trying this right now.
Testing is a very important part of the release process for any kind of software. Desktop environments are usually really complex pieces of software with a lot of moving parts, and it’s difficult for the developers to take everything into account. Letting users try out the Beta is a good way of gathering feedback from the community, and it ensures that the final version of Cinnamon will be a lot better and much more stable.
Cinnamon 2.8 brings a ton of improvements and new features, so you can understand why the devs think that it’s quite possible to encounter problems and regressions. If you have a Linux Mint installation, it’s quite easy to switch to the new Cinnamon 2.8.
It’s possible that some of you won’t have a smooth experience with the new desktop, but it’s also quite possible that others won’t encounter any issues. In any case, all bugs and issues should be reported so that developers can fix it in time for the release.
How to upgrade to Cinnamon 2.8
In order to get the new version of the desktop environment, you’ll need Linux Mint 17.2 “Rafaela” or LMDE 2 “Betsy.” This is what the developers are saying. “Warning: Cinnamon 2.8 will be officially released and announced at the end of the month. It should not be considered “stable” until then. Early access to the upcoming Cinnamon 2.8 is available for people interested in beta-testing and helping the team squash bugs before the official release.”
Users can enable the Unstable packages (romeo) from Software Sources, then run the Update Manager, click on the Refresh and Clear buttons, and select the 11 Cinnamon updates available. These updates can be found in the official repositories, so if you have a mirror selected, you’ll have to wait a couple more days. No reboot is required, but you’ll have to log out and log back in.
Also, don’t forget about sending important feedback to the developers. More details on how to do that can be found on the official website. You can also see what’s new in Cinnamon 2.8 in our initial report.
Via Softpedia