The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 12 KDE RC.

Linux Mint 12 KDE RC

KDE 4.7

This edition comes with the latest and recently released KDE 4.7.4

Hybrid ISO images

This is the first release of Linux Mint using Hybrid ISO images.

Traditionally, tools such as ‘Startup Disk Creator’ or ‘UNetbootin’ were needed to install Linux Mint via USB. With hybrid images, you can simply use the “dd” command or a graphical frontend to make a bootable USB stick with no efforts which acts exactly like a liveDVD.

Pros:

The resulting USB stick will act exactly like a liveCD/DVD
The process is fast and simple
Hybrid ISOs are still compatible with Unetbootin and Startup Disk Creator

Cons:

This method deletes all the data present on the USB drive
The USB stick isn’t persistent (though you can still use Unetbootin to do this)

For more information on how to install this release via USB, please read this tutorial.

Search engines

Duck Duck Go: The new default search engine is Duck Duck Go. It doesn’t show different results depending on who’s making the search, it doesn’t track or record user information, it provides you with optmized results and it’s built on and contributes to Open Source.

Development of a new business model: Search engines will share with Linux Mint the revenue generated for them by Linux Mint users. Some search engines partnered with Linux Mint already and are present in Linux Mint 12.

Easy installation of other engines: The way you install search engines in Linux Mint 12 is radically different than in previous releases. Clear explanations and easy instructions are there for the user to understand how search engines help Linux Mint and to decide what to do. The installation of additional search engines is also now much easier than before.

Upstream components

Linux Mint 12 features the following upstream components: Ubuntu 11.10, Linux 3.0, KDE 4.7.4.

Bron : The Linux Mint blog