Linux Mint Retools the Cinnamon App Launcher
The developers of Linux Mint are working on an improved Cinnamon App Launcher with a better, more accessible UI.
Sometimes change happens because it's required. Sometimes change happens because it's desired. Sometimes the twain shall meet and a change happens because it's both required and desired.
I believe that to be the case with the news from the official Linux Mint blog about what's coming for the Cinnamon application menu. What the developers have designed isn't a dramatic reinvention of the app menu, but a sort of reconfiguring of the constituent parts.
Essentially, the redesign expands the side panel in the desktop menu such that it shows the full name of pinned icons (launchers), but it also adds the standard home folders (Home, Desktop, Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, and Downloads). At the same time, your username and avatar will be shown in the top left corner of the new menu.
Another change to the menu includes moving the screen lock, log out, and shutdown buttons from the side panel to the bottom right corner of the menu.
These are not game-changing reconfigurations, but they will go a long way to help make the Cinnamon desktop menu a bit more efficient and give it a more modern appearance. Up until now, the Cinnamon desktop menu was somewhat sparse and looked a bit too old-school for such a modern distribution.
This revamped menu will ship with Linux Mint 22.2 and the Cinnamon 6.6 desktop (as well as with any distribution that uses the latest version of Cinnamon).
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.
-
Plasma Ends LTS Releases
The KDE Plasma development team is doing away with the LTS releases for a good reason.
-
Arch Linux Available for Windows Subsystem for Linux
If you've ever wanted to use a rolling release distribution with WSL, now's your chance.
-
System76 Releases COSMIC Alpha 7
With scores of bug fixes and a really cool workspaces feature, COSMIC is looking to soon migrate from alpha to beta.
-
OpenMandriva Lx 6.0 Available for Installation
The latest release of OpenMandriva has arrived with a new kernel, an updated Plasma desktop, and a server edition.
-
TrueNAS 25.04 Arrives with Thousands of Changes
One of the most popular Linux-based NAS solutions has rolled out the latest edition, based on Ubuntu 25.04.
-
Fedora 42 Available with Two New Spins
The latest release from the Fedora Project includes the usual updates, a new kernel, an official KDE Plasma spin, and a new System76 spin.