The Linux Mint team has launched Cinnamon 6.6, featuring a revamped application menu and various enhancements to usability. This update will serve as the default desktop in the upcoming Linux Mint 22.3 release. Improvements span keyboard handling, settings options, and applet functionalities.
On December 10, 2025, the Linux Mint team announced the release of Cinnamon 6.6, a major update to its desktop environment. This version introduces a redesigned application menu applet, allowing users to switch between symbolic and full-color icons for categories. It also supports color changes for system buttons on hover, configurable places and bookmarks, and several visual refinements.
Keyboard management sees modernization, particularly in the virtual keyboard, with a new layout-switching button, a context menu link to accessibility settings, better theme integration, enhanced suggestion visibility, and smooth fade effects for showing or hiding the keyboard.
The Settings application gains new features, including a Thunderbolt module, a tiling tab in the Windows section, a suspend option tied to battery-critical events in the Power module, manual scheduling for Night Light, and integration with a new System Information tool.
Applet updates address specific issues: the Sound applet now ensures album art reappears after volume changes and properly restores previous volume levels when unmuting. The NetworkManager applet displays multiple active VPN connections, while the Workspace Switcher offers an option for window icons. The Printer applet appears only during printing tasks, and the Window List supports notification badges.
Additional enhancements include shortcuts for direct keyboard layout switching, improved Python keybinding management, a zoom reset shortcut, an option to prioritize newest notifications, and hot corners in full-screen mode. Other tweaks involve better Places manager mounts, an 'Always' mode for Night Light, on-screen display for gesture-based volume adjustments, fractional scaling direction choices, and root authentication support without admin users.
Display behaviors improve with Alt+Tab focusing on the current monitor's windows and the Expo effect activating on the mouse's monitor. A fix prevents duplicate applet ordering during drags. Internally, the environment adopts XApp symbolic icons and requires IBus at runtime, with build options for NetworkManager flexibility.
Cinnamon 6.6 will debut in Linux Mint 22.3 (Zena), slated for late 2025 or early 2026, and is available for installation on distributions like Arch Linux through their repositories.
