LMDE 7 "Gigi" Beta Released With Debian 13 Base

Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is a version of Linux Mint built directly on Debian rather than Ubuntu. Its goal is to ensure Linux Mint can continue independently if Ubuntu were ever discontinued while maintaining the same familiar desktop experience for users.

This goes without saying: the development of LMDE is closely aligned with the main Linux Mint project and Debian. The team tests updates, Cinnamon improvements, and Mint tools to ensure compatibility, since Debian packages differ from Ubuntu. Stability and user experience are top priorities here.

Anyhow, let's see what they have cooked up with this new beta release.

A Quick Look at LMDE 7 "Gigi" Beta

this is a screenshot of the beta build of lmde 7, which has four app windows open, on the left hand side, there is a terminal window with the apt --version and sudo apt update commands run, below it is the updated sofware manager, on the right is another terminal window with a fastfetch output inside it, and below it is the hypnotix app

LMDE 7 "Gigi" is powered by Linux kernel 6.12, providing improved hardware support, better performance on laptops, and enhanced compatibility with Intel Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake, AMD RDNA 4, and Raspberry Pi 5 platforms. The kernel ensures modern drivers and system stability.

Similarly, the Debian 13 "Trixie" base ensures that this release of LMDE comes equipped with refinements such as the APT 3.0 with the new Solver3 dependency resolver and a redesigned /tmp behavior that stores temporary files in RAM for improved performance.

As for its Linux Mint bones, LMDE 7 incorporates most of the improvements from Linux Mint 22.2 "Zara". That includes the refined Software Manager with the new "Help" tooltip to better differentiate Flatpak and system packages, upgrades to core apps like Hypnotix and Sticky, and the introduction of a new fingerprint authentication app called Fingwit.

There are also many user interface upgrades, such as libAdwaita being patched to work seamlessly with Linux Mint themes, a redesigned login screen with blur effects, and OEM installation support that allows hardware vendors to pre-install LMDE 7 for a smooth out-of-the-box experience.

Get LMDE 7 "Gigi" Beta

🚧

Do not install this on general or production use machines, this is pre-release software!

Downloads for this pre-release build of LMDE are available on the official blog, with options for both direct download and torrent mirrors hosted on servers worldwide. Before you ask, there's no concrete information on when the stable release will be out, but it shouldn't be long.

LMDE 7 "Gigi" Beta (Torrent)

Suggested Reads 📖