There’s now an easy upgrade path for Linux Mint 17 ‘Qiana’ users (whether they’re running Cinnamon or Mate desktops) to move up to the new Linux Mint 17.1 aka Rebecca via the Update Manager.
Here are the steps to upgrade to Linux Mint 17.1:
1. Launch “Update Manager” by clicking on its icon (see bottom right of your screen)
2. Upgrade “Update Manager” to the latest version, i.e. 4.7.7. On my Linux Mint 17 computer, the older version was 4.6.7
3. After the “Update Manager” is upgraded to 4.7.7, click on Edit in the top menu bar and select the option to “Update to Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca” to start the upgrade
4. Follow the instructions on the screen
5. Reboot your computer
Important: Be prudent and backup your key documents and files to an external drive before launching the upgrade process.
Linux Mint developer Clem says the upgrade to Linux Mint 17.1 will not revert user settings, data or third party installations to a default configuration. Also, users who have added other PPAs to their Linux Mint systems don’t have to worry since the PPAs will stay intact even after the upgrade.
Linux Mint 17.1 is a long term support release (support guaranteed until 2019).
Note on Kernel
The kernel is not tied to the upgrade to Linux Mint 17.1 and will not change.
After you move to Linux Mint 17.1, you have the option to continue with the existing kernel or upgrade by clicking on View — Linux Kernels in the Update Manager.
The default kernel for Linux Mint 17.1 is 3.13.0.37.
By the way, Linux Mint 17.1 is based on Ubuntu 14.04.
My Upgrade Experience
Went off smoothly.
The whole process of upgrading Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon took 10-minutes and 14-seconds on my five-year-old Dell Optiplex 780 Core 2 Duo with 4GB RAM.
After rebooting, I was back at my Linux Mint desktop, albeit this time with version 17.1.
I did a quick check of my apps and configurations. Nothing seems to have changed after the upgrade to Linux Mint 17.1. The kernel was the same too (3.13.0-24 on my computer).
By the way, during the upgrade process you must click on “Release Notes” and “New Features” to go to the next step. This is a good move since users are forced into awareness of possible issues before blindly upgrading.
After the upgrade, you can check the version of your Linux Mint by running the below command on the terminal:
cat /etc/issue
I did not notice a huge difference between 17.1 and 17.
While I did not conduct any timing tests pre and post-upgrade, applications (like Firefox, Bluefish Editor, Sublime Text 3 and Gimp) seemed to load a wee bit faster with Linux Mint 17.1.
My initial verdict is that the upgrade has a smooth, polished look and will continue to attract more defectors to Linux Mint not just from Windows and Mac but from other Linux distros as well.
I will continue to explore Linux Mint 17.1 in greater detail today.
Overall, I’m pleased as punch with Linux Mint 17.1! 🙂
Other Upgraders Pleased
It’s not just me.
Other early upgraders to Linux Mint 17.1 too seem happy with the upgrade process.
One user ‘Christophe’ wrote on the Linux Mint blog:
Thanks for the update manager! So far, so good. It went like a charm, and now I’m having some fun playing around with the new settings. It definitely has a nice, polished look about it, and it feels faster at least (not that I timed loading times before). Nemo looks great, and I’m enjoying the new desktop backgrounds.
Linux Mint 17.1 Upgraders reported update times between 5-15 minutes for the entire process.
Users can skip the Linux Mint 17.1 upgrade if they’re happy with the current version and can upgrade to Linux Mint 17.2 (whenever that comes) without first going to Linux Mint 17.1.
The biggest change in Linux Mint 17.1 is the Cinnamon 2.4 desktop.
Linux Mint 17.1 for users running Xfce and KDE desktops should be available by the end of December 2014.
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