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We’re proud to offer the second official Peppermint OS respin, featuring a fully updated system as of June 17 and a few other things including bug fixes and new features.  Like any of our version respins, there’s no reason to reinstall unless you just want to, the version you already have installed is being automatically updated over time.

Here are some of the highlights this time around:

Peppermint-One-06172010

• All Xfce applications and dependencies have been removed.  In an effort to keep Peppermint light and modular, we’ve decided to start cutting out dependencies on other desktops as much as possible.  This time around we pulled all of Xfce out.  Applications from Xfce such as the Task Manager and the screenshot app have been replaced with more modular ones.
• The notifications are prettier.  We first released Peppermint with the old notification-daemon running.  Unfortunately it’s very ugly so we pulled it out in favor of notify-osd.
• We’ve gotten rid of pyneighborhood.  Basically the presence of this application seemed to cause more confusion than network sharing so we opted to drop it entirely.  The file manager is gaining better support for network shares so in the near future apps like pyneighborhood will no longer have a place in Peppermint.
• The default IRC client, xchat, has been updated to version 2.8.8 and now automatically connects to #peppermint on irc.spotchat.org, our “official” IRC channel.
• The boot splash no longer has that weird blue tint to the background.  This was a detail left over from Lubuntu that we missed the first and second times around.  Hey, nobody’s perfect.
• All package updates as of June 17 have been installed and tested.  This includes lower level updates that the update manager will skip over due to potential stability issues.  Not that there are stability issues, it’s just that the update manager is a little overprotective sometimes.

The respin is up now.  Have fun with it.

Kendall Weaver and Team Peppemint

We’re proud to offer the first official Peppermint OS respin, featuring a fully updated system a few bug fixes, and a few new features.  We’re going to be respinning the ISO every few weeks in order to make sure that fresh downloads will reflect the improvements we’re making.  Note that it’s easy to update your existing Peppermint OS installation, so if you have it running the way you want it, there’s no reason to download a respin… unless you simply want to download and experiment, then please be our guest and have fun.

What’s new in this respin: Peppermint-One-05222010

• Mouse and Keyboard settings are persistent – A couple of community members found this bug and we’re happy to have it fixed.  The tool used for these settings was originally written to be integrated with Fluxbox, so we had to make a few adjustments to get everything working as it should in LXDE.
• Improved localization support for folders – If you frequently login with more than one language, you’ll likely appreciate this one.  A friend on the Linux Mint development team pointed this one out for us.
• Quick Search in Synaptic now works – This feature was left out of Lubuntu on account of the resource overhead it adds to the graphical package manager, however it’s still easier on resources than the Software Manager and people seem to really like it, so in it goes.
• Improved support for printing to .pdf format – This one is fairly self explanatory, but after a couple of requests some changes have been made to facilitate easier operation of this feature.
• Improved support for 3g connectivity – The modemmanager package has been added to the default install so that more people using certain 3g modems can better take advantage of Peppermint OS out of the box.
• Better spell check in Firefox – The English spell check library has been added to the default install so that people using a live system can appear better educated when they post questions in our forum.
• Applications for power management and shared folders are visible by default – These are already in the core system, but were originally hidden by default.  Because they might be useful we’ve started maintaining our own versions of these packages that have them displayed by default.
• Added Prism applications for Peppermint Support and Peppermint Forums – We kind of figured that having obvious access to our support channels could not possibly be a bad thing.  Thus we’ve added obvious access to our support channels.
• Fully updated as of 5-22-2010 – All package updates for the base system have been installed and tested so that when you download, you don’t have to worry about installing an extra 50 MB of updates right on top of your fresh system.
• Added “Shutdown” button to the panel – Due to popular request, we’ve added an icon to open the shutdown dialog to the panel.  LXDE traditionally has this by default but we originally removed it to add some real estate to the panel.  It turns out people would rather have the shutdown icon.
• Menu placement option has been added in Prism – The custom Prism frontend for Peppermint now allows you to select where in the menu you’d like to place web applications.  Originally they all got tossed in the “Internet” menu, but now you can toss them almost anywhere.
• Probably a few more but I can’t think of them right now. – There have been a few more minor configuration details, but they’re really not worth explaining.  If you’re really interested, download the source packages and have fun.

It’s up now and every download coming off of our main site will be the fresh respin.  Let us know what you think so that we can continue to make each respin better than the last.

Kendall Weaver

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If I said it was easy to develop and release an operating system, I’d be a liar. If I said it was easy to support and maintain an operating system, I’d be a liar. If I said that I had an example of the best among us in this regard, I would be telling the absolute truth. It’s been well circulated around many Linux communities at this point that Mats Geier, a forum admin and tech support guru from Linux Mint has passed away this past March. I think about the impact that he has had on the Linux community every day and no decision comes without a “what would Mats do” point of view.

If I said that Mats was the best of us, that would be an understatement deserving of award. Mats was selfless, logical beyond human reason, and personable beyond what most of us are capable of. If nothing else I would like to take a brief moment to say thanks, like I’ve never said it before.

Mats, I would like to dedicate this day to you and only you. You gave me the confidence to step into the world of Linux and you gave me the substance to do something with it. Even though you’re no longer with us, I hope that your family reads this and understands how much you meant to both me and the entire Linux community. We can never express our gratitude in an appropriately measurable way. I wish only the best for everything you touched in life. Much love and much thanks.

Kendall Weaver
Lead Developer for Peppermint OS
Maintainer for Linux Mint

We are happy to announce that Peppermint OS One will release on Monday May 10th by 12:00 PM [ Noon]  EDT. We are super excited !! We are even more excited to join together with you on this journey to take Peppermint and see where we can go with it, push the limits, and exceed your [and our] expectations.

Also, this morning The Linux Critic gave a very detailed review of Peppermint OS One. Here are a few choice words..

Let me be absolutely clear about one thing: Peppermint Linux OS is fast. Really fast. On this tired old laptop, Peppermint boots up from a cold, powered down state in just under 25 seconds from me hitting the power button to being able to log in graphically….. I can’t even imagine what this OS would be like on newer hardware. It’d be unbelievable.

Again, stay tuned on Monday May 10th and you’ll be ready to dig into Peppermint yourself !! Thanks to all the Beta Testers and their feedback as this was critical for us to move forward.

Have a great week

Team Peppermint