Linux Mint DE 5

Whenever there's a new LMDE release, Mayank Sharma can't help but think of the old adage: "It's the thought that counts.”

- Mayank Sharma

LMDE 5 is well stocked, and fully usable right-out-of-the-box, thanks to a host of desktop software you won't find on a stock Debian installation.

SPECS

CPU: Any x86 processor

Mem: 4GB recommended

HDD: 100GB recommended

Build: 32and 64-bit

LMDE 5, codenamed Elsie, is the latest edition of Linux Mint's Debian-based distro, and is based on Debian 11. LMDE exists because Linux Mint needed a fallback option in case Ubuntu made such significant changes to the distro that it no longer became feasible to use as a base.

For this reason, LMDE is also one of Mint's development targets, and helps guarantee that its homebrewed software work outside of the Ubuntusphere.

Given its objectives, LMDE strives to be as similar as possible to Linux Mint. One of the reasons for Mint's popularity is its Cinnamon desktop environment, which sports familiar-looking desktop furniture, unlike the now-defunct Unity desktop, and even the new-fangled Gnome 3 desktop that's the default on Ubuntu.