Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 to drop support for 32-bit
Linux Mint Debian Edition 7 will not support 32-bit computers. That's not surprising.
Last week, I reported that Mozilla is ending support for Firefox on 32-bit Linux in 2026. In that article, I briefly explained how 32-bit distros are becoming rarer these days.
So why is Linux Mint Debian Edition ditching 32-bit? Well, it's very simple. LMDE is based on Debian. And Debian 13 dropped support for i386, aka 32-bit. It is now amd64, which is the 64-bit architecture. Naturally, since it is based on Debian's source code, LMDE has no choice but to follow suit, hence becoming a 64-bit distro. You can still run 32-bit apps, but the distribution will not have 32-bit build ISOs. Debian 12 Bookworm Long Term Support (LTS) end on June 30, 2028. So it is likely that LMDE 6 will be supported until then. So, there is no need to panic just yet.
LMDE 7, which is codenamed Gigi, will be based on Debian 13 Trixie. The official announcement says that the upcoming iteration will include the improvements that were introduced in Linux Mint 22.2. Also, LMDE 7 will support OEM installations, which will allow manufacturers to pre-install the distro on their computers. The first beta of LMDE 7 will be released in September.
In case you missed it, Linux Mint 22.2 was released earlier this month. Linux Mint 22 was released in July 2024, followed by 22.1 in January 2025, and 22.2 in September this year. However, the next release is very close. Linux Mint 22.3 is targeting a December 2025 release. It will focus a new version of Cinnamon, and bring a new menu.
This is what it looks like right now (except for the custom menu icon that I use).
Here's a preview of the new menu. So the layout's changing, the buttons at the bottom are being moved to the right panel. I don't know why but it reminds me of macOS' System Settings.
The names of the icons in the sidebar are expanded, while the right panel has descriptions for each app. That might be useful for people who are moving to LMDE 7, because a certain OS is reaching end of life support soon.
Mint 22.3 will also have a status applet, and Wayland-compatible handling for keyboard layouts and input methods. While on the topic of Linux, you should check out KDE Linux. It's very much real, albeit in an early phase.
Until they fix tray icons to be coherent, same size and style … will pass any version of Mint. System tray icons are ok … but third party and cinnamon-spices icons all over the place. So any KDE distro before Mint
I just tried LMDE the other day to see if it’s viable. I was surprised that it did not have a Wi-Fi driver and my laptop which is a 2025 model that doesn’t have a LAN port can’t connect any other way (unless I have additional hardware) besides Wi-Fi so I found it unusable.
Also for some reason the screen was constantly flickering and it only worked on 144Hz refresh rate, setting it to 60Hz made everything slow to a crawl. I don’t know if I was just unlucky, but for me it was unusable so I went back to regular Mint 22.2 Cinnamon.
Some people say it was faster and more lightweight than regular Mint, but I don’t think I was able to “feel” it.
Plug in your phone via USB to use its internet, then open Driver Manager. It should help you get the drivers you need. Also check if you have updates and install them.
It’s over now. I didn’t even think of that. I went back to regular Mint Cinnamon.
Oh. Well, maybe it will help others who face similar issues. :)