Linux Mint 8 KDE released!

The team is proud to announce the release of Linux Mint 8 “Helena” KDE Community Edition.

Quick steps:

Introduction to Linux Mint 8 KDE:

The KDE Community Edition aims to provide a version of Linux Mint which uses the KDE desktop.

For a detailed overview of the new features and improvements included in Linux Mint 8 KDE, please read “What’s new in Helena KDE?“.

System requirements:

A minimum of 4GB of free space and 256MB RAM are needed. For a comfortable experience we recommended to have at least 512MB RAM and 10GB of free space.

Important information and known issues:

For a complete list of known issues read the Release Notes.

Download Linux Mint 8 KDE:

You can download Linux Mint 8 KDE via torrent or via HTTP:

Size: 1.1GB LiveDVD
MD5Sum: 439bca40d80d6627f83d32e8c1cb7d1c

Torrent download: http://www.linuxmint.com/torrent/LinuxMint-8-KDE.iso.torrent
HTTP download: http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=47

Asia:

Europe:

Northern America:

Rest of the World:

Enjoy!

Have a lot of fun with this edition and let us know what you think. Reviews will be answered and your feedback will be used to improve the distribution before the next release. We hope you enjoy this release as much as we enjoyed making it and we wish you a very nice experience with Linux Mint.

107 comments

  1. I’m getting so sick of people on the Web saying that openSUSE is the “flagship” distro of KDE, I am happy that Mint 8 KDE is here to give Novell some serious competition in that category.

    I spun the live CD (no true installation yet) and this distro seems very tight and well put together.

    I have to admit I was disappointed to see KDE 4.3.4 instead of 4.4. Version 4.4 is due to be released on 9 February and I’m wondering if it would have been better to delay Mint 8 KDE’s release to include 4.4.

    However, if the upgrade from 4.3.4 is easy and painless, it won’t matter.

    Mint 8 KDE is what Kubuntu should be, and if it were so, Kubuntu (not Ubuntu) would be Canonical’s main distro if they had any business sense. Thank you Clem, Boo, and all the rest and I look forward to continuing my Mint KDE evangelism on the Web.

  2. What’s the command to just install the mint kde as an alternative desktop for the existing mint 8 installation?

    That is: I want both gnome and kde as selectable desktops on my mint 8 install.

  3. Thanks so much for all your efforts to release Helena KDE. Congrats to all those who worked to make this possible.

  4. I have always wanted to try KDE, but didn’t want to stray from Mint. Thanks for this, will report back after download/install!

  5. Will there ever be a 64bit edition of Linux Mint KDE???
    I love Linux Mint as well as KDE4. But I need a 64bit KDE desktop for my workstation and I have to stick with Kubuntu. 🙁

  6. I have personally thought that GNOME looks cleaner and more practical than KDE, but this release changed my mind. Great work!

  7. Somebody here said that Canonical should Make Kubuntu their default to focus on, I think the Same about Mint… Mint Kde should be the Default… I say this Because lets face it, there isn’t many Good Kde distros out there that have the user friendlyness locked down to the point where even My Mum could easily use it… I wouldn’t consider Opensuse to be user friendly, Mandriva, Fedora etc etc… Ubuntu has that part locked down, and Mint makes it even easier for users…
    Gnome is good, but it looks like shit compared to kde, the code is ancient, and the future of Gnome is a Mess… Gnome 3 is going to be the same old crap with a crappy Javascript coded GnomeShell interface…
    Kde is the Sane Desktop Environment to choose if you want an O.S that is modern and works like it should without sacrificing features. I can’t get my head around why the Best distros out there are still using Gnome..

  8. Greetz from Germany,
    and congratz to this great Version of Mint KDE…The best Distri with KDE4 I’ve found. Thx a lot 4 u’r fine work

  9. kaddy say – “I can’t get my head around why the Best distros out there are still using Gnome…”
    does this mean?
    you had in mind kaddy?
    Who can rephrase this sentence?

  10. Who can rephrase this sentence?
    “I can’t get my head around why the Best distros out there are still using Gnome..”

  11. Congratulation for this great release.
    I agree with Kaddy… Ubuntu’s default is Gnome and there is no much focus on KDE. In fact Kubuntu is a mess… everything is mix… it is not easy to find the programs because they are not organized and its software manager is very poor. I always liked OpenSUSE because it is a very good distro with a great work on KDE, but after a while, it starts to get some dependency problems and I feel Debian/Ubuntu is much better to manage. But what I miss on (K)Ubuntu is what OpenSUSE have great which is KDE. Mint could make his version of KDE as well as OpenSUSE and get all the fans of KDE that which to use Ubuntu, like myself.
    Nevertheless, congratulations for your great work.

  12. nice. I’m seeding.

    Have played a little bit with the RC.
    Was good.

    When the KDEx64 comes out, I change to that. I like Mint8 KDE better than GNOME.

  13. As far as I know, in Linux Mint 8 (as in other Linux distros based on Ubuntu 9.10) the PPPoE connection does not work.
    I have looked through some forums (Ubuntu, Mint) – one give some solutions to this problem. But this solutions work for some people, for others don’t…
    Is this problem solved in the last release (Linux Mint 8 KDE)?

  14. Installed it but there is no sound 🙁 it doesnt detect my realtek soundchip om my P5K motherboard. Alsa crasches and Pulse didnt work in Kubuntu either.

  15. I have been waiting for it since last year and finally is here. Thanks in advance to all of you, I’m starting downloading right now. The RC1 broked the OS triying to change the resolution, hope this is fixed. I have the feeling that will be a great OS as and will not dissapoint me like the others KDE distros did. I will give you my opinion in a few days but the fact it took so long is an indication that Linux Mint really care on the quality of the product. Thanks again.

  16. Any chance of a stripped down (750 MB) version that those of us without DVD burners can use? I can load apps later.

  17. I don’t see how you can call the Mint 8 KDE a KDE version there is almost no KDE there. It is almost all gnome software and the desktop is nothing like any KDE4 desktop I have used. I am sorry but I can not except this release as KDE. You should call it gnome that looks something almost like KDE but fails. It does install and run OK but not something I want to use. Sorry.

  18. ¡Enhorabuena! Esto es un sistema operativo en condiciones, no como otros que hay en el mercado, que o bien son una mierda, o bien se venden a precios injustificados. ¡Gracias!

  19. David Brown said: “Any chance of a stripped down (750 MB) version that those of us without DVD burners can use? I can load apps later.”

    Try “UNetbootin” and make a bootable USB-stick. Just remember to not DELETE whatever was on the USB-stick – always re-FORMAT it to FAT32 before using UNetbootin!! Its easy, good luck!

  20. hey, I got some problems using the new linux mint 8 KDE helena, ok I download it all and then install it normally, the problem comes when i turn off the computer, I click on shut down computer and the computer shut down normally, but when i turn on the computer theres no my log in screen, theres only my terminal the screen turns to black and it tells me to log in, ok i put my name and password but what i see is my terminal, what do i have to do to make it work normal?
    is that a problem with the so? beacuse i had linux mint gnome 8 and it worked normally as always, so how can i fix it? can somebody helps me?

  21. Well, I only able to boot in compatibility mode… and get very bad display.. It’s weird cause the previous version worked fine… i’m on Dell Inspiron 6400…

  22. I loaded it up on my 6 year old machine yesterday without a problem with the minor exception that the format progress bar doesn’t progress. It’s been running without a single glitch since (I cheated and waited for someone on the forums to put a link to the final as soon as it was approved by Clem). Beautiful job done as usual.

    I had to chuckle a bit when I read the “What’s new in Helena KDE” where the first example was how the Update manager had been simplified and made smaller when it wasn’t and it hadn’t been. Besides, it didn’t need to be changed anyway.

    Great job folks.

  23. wierd they choose to make it blue it’s sort of wierd becuase the other linux mint 8 distro variations (that I’ve seen) are green and stuff. :s

    Still very cool. I’m so new to linux all I’ve messed with is gnome. I don’t think I’ll be trying this since I already have Mint 8 installed (gnome) but maybe some day ill load it on another PC. Looks sweet. I saw videos of it on youtube. It’s very eye catching. =]

  24. i also think so.
    i think that mint should use KDE as default desktop environment rater than gnome …………. that’s what i say after working on gnome form more than 4 years >>>> KDE is much better and 100 times more nice

  25. Congratulations to Boo and the rest of the Mint team for a job done well.
    Mint KDE4 is up and running very well on my machine.

    Greetings
    npap

  26. Thank you for new release. Ocasionally I visit you site at the right time. What a really nice surprise. Tomorrow I will continue “my Mint KDE evangelism” with new weapon. Tonight I`ll install and check this Kde Mint. Thanks a lot.
    Ukraine.

  27. Another great release! Have been using Mint 7 and Mint 8 for about two years. Mint is the best distro!

    Looking for best LINUX distribution? This is the one!

    Congratulations to the development team!

    Best regards from Batam – Indonesia

  28. It doesn’t work on my laptop 🙁 When I boot the DVD the screen goes black and nothing happens. I’ve tested the DVD on another computer and there is nothing wrong with it..

  29. I like Linux mint 8 KDE VM, i didn’t think before that KDE is such light, good and of course V nice……….. i never user gnome any more.
    Thanks mint developers for such a grate thing.

  30. i have a old sony vaio and installed fluxbox on a pentium 3 600 192 ram and amazingly after hours of re try and precision clicking i got it to install and it runs blazingly fast im amazed it only has 2.5 video ram

  31. Great work! I’ve been using Kubuntu for several years, but there ever were too many nasty problems in it (and it was getting worse). So I switched to openSUSE when 11.2 came out. But I was disappointed, as it had several problems, too. Then I finally switched from KDE based distros to Linux Mint 8 (GNOME), as it gave me the “smooth” user experience I was searching for. I just was missing KDE with it. But thanks to your great work, this is fixed now. 🙂 Thank you so very much!

  32. and now how to update to kde 4.4? who can explain that? when and where? and will be better to make something to have both genome and kde in one system. any thots about that?!

  33. This is the best KDE distribution currently available and, I believe, the best Linux distribution available at this time. Very impressive. This is so good, in fact, that I have permanently converted to the Mint 8 KDE edition. Truly, a very professional work.

  34. LM KDE 8 is really rocking. I had a few problems during the installation but once it was installed it did blow me. The future of KDE is brilliant and Hellena shines. Thanks for the love you guys put on delivering it, I really love it.

  35. What I do not understand is why my comments were removed from this comment page. I said nothing injurious in fact my message was mostly congratulatory. Strange but I will repeat, great distro needs finesse and attention to detail to make sure that all basic functions work properly. For example the taskbar regularly loses its autohide ability, the system is VERY slow to wake up, you cannot save to a network drive even thought it is mounted, drives do not automount etc……….

  36. There is no perfect OS, but the Mint 8 versions of Gnome and KDE
    reach over 90% of perfection. I did a fresh install of KDE 8 Final
    release (PC). I am planning to install KDE 8 on my new Laptop too.

    I had two problems (RC) with applications that did not work right
    even though we have other alternatives (applications) to use when playing music.
    Amarok works fine now and plays audio CDs, provides lyrics,
    biographies of artists and also features music from the internet. Plays mp3 files, etc.
    Tucan manager: (this is not a player) I do not need this application.

    Linux Mint KDE 8 is beautiful, tested ,complete, stable and reliable.

    Ok, i Saw the changes made when the system boot. (Usplash). In
    summary, this comment contains a very personal opinion. Other users may have their.

    Note: i am not no teacher or a person specialized in IT.

    I just like to feel the system I’m using is always correspond well
    and realize that it is stable, does not break, the applications work,
    a system that receives necessary periodic updates and I have no
    concerns to fix things that might appear due to the constant use of the system, etc..
    The next day again when I turn on my computer the system loads and it
    is in perfect condition.

    An unstable system behaves like a boat with holes in the base and
    after a few weeks of use is adrift and can sink fast.

    I am talking about Linux Mint. No way am I comparing Linux Mint with
    other Linux distributions. Each user of Linux should choose your favourite distribution.

    Great Mint 8 releases Gnome 8 and – KDE 8 (for this topic).

    Viva Mint KDE 8 “Helena” !

    Mint Fluxbox CE 8 “Helena” final version is coming soon. Stay tuned.

    Congratulations to the Linux Mint Team.

  37. Installed KDE after running with GNOME on Mint 8, it installed 100% but failed to boot in KDE env or GNOME env after restart. Any ideas? Me thinking here may need to reinstall everything 🙁

  38. Did I miss sth? but where are the other 2 versions?

    1b2f311199d2d0d7f5fc431d0252e824 LinuxMint-8-Fluxbox.iso
    98f5c5fa0fa358053a4debfabca115af LinuxMint-8-KDE64.iso

  39. but how u installed KDE 4.4 without any problems???!!!, i tried to install it 3 times and in every time it destroy my Linux mint 8 KDE and i have to install it again …… 🙁

  40. To bad you chose that amateurish looking wallpaper instead of the ‘Fresh’ one that’s in the main version, that one is much easier on the eyes as well.
    …and the new logo is ugly in my opinion!
    What happened to the cool looking one from Mint 7?

  41. Next release (Mint 9) will be very important. I gave my older computer to my father (88 years old!) and i installed Mint 7 to it. Next summer i’m gonna installed propably Mint 9 Fluxbox coz that computer has RAM only 512 Mb, older graphic card (i had to fix the xorg.conf).

    I hope that Fluxbox will work fine. Thanks anyway! Linux Mint 8 Gnome has been great and i’m sure to try personally KDE-version with Mint 9.

    Cheers from Finland.

  42. And one thing. SUSE 11.2 has been my biggest disappointment with Linux-distros so far. I guess i was waiting something special. Installation was painfull. Three times missed, 4th was finally succesfull – until i found that SUSE 11.2 Gnome was full of bugs. I could boot Ubuntu and Mint 8 from SUSE menu. I kicked it out and replaced it with Mandriva 2010 KDE which was superb, beautiful and stabile distro.

    I’ve no idea why some people are still worshipping OpenSUSE. My experience was almost a nightmare.

  43. No sound to my toshiba laptop if I install “modem driver”.

    The disk has to be ejected from software after playing, the button not responding..

  44. k-mint is beautiful and more practical than genome environment
    but it have problem in bluetooth when it confinement it with mobile it not do it correct like genome

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