By Martin Jansen, Owner of Jansen-PCINFO
My household recently upgraded to Linux Mint 22.2 and this was the easiest upgrade ever!
Upgrade Process
No kidding, the upgrade just took 10 minutes and none of my apps were missing in the end. Mine is not a standard install, with all kinds of apps and addons, such as Virtualbox and Wine to run Windows and Windows apps, but none of that fazed the upgrade gods at Linux Mint.
I also had some flatpak installations of the latest software and some externally sourced apps, again no problem during the upgrade. Everything just worked.
Linux Mint is known for their stability and easy to use interface; none of that has changed with the upgrade.
Fingwit
If you have an easy to remember password to login to your PC, then Fingwit is the application for you. In anticipation of the upgrade, I searched high and low for a compatible USB fingerprint scanner to enhance the security of my computer.
I looked at all the fingerprint scanners of Amazon, but none of the Windows Hello scanners are compatible with Fingwit. Finally, I found this link for devices that work with fprint, the underlying layer of Fingwit. Fortunately I found an older unit of the HID Digital Persona U.are.U 4500 on eBay. It cost about $30 and, last I checked, more are available.
When it arrived, I was surprised by the quality and heft of the scanner.
The Fingwit application allows the use of fingerprints to login and allows root access to upgrade software. During setup you scan your fingerprints several times to get a record of your print in the system. I used my pointing finger on my right hand and the thumb on my right hand.
Now, whenever I login the system or wake it from a lock screen, I am prompted to press my finger or thumb before entering my password. Also, when I need to update Linux Mint, I am prompted to authenticate with my fingerprint before entering my password.
I am now confident that no changes to my operating system will take place without my personal presence.
Other Enhancements
The new Linux Mint 22.2 version also includes other software enhancements:
- Keeping physical Sticky notes on your computer is so yesteryear, but electronic notes keep you reminded of your life events. Notes is much better in version 22.2 allowing for a connection to your Android phone. Still, my wife and I prefer to use Google’s Keep accessible through an app and keep.google.com.
- Color improvements make windows more vibrant with a little more blue in the mix.
- The login screen looks better than ever thanks to the addition of a blur effect in the panel and the dialog box.
- Hypnotix is a TV viewing app that is somewhat hit or miss depending on channel selection. It now offers viewing in Theatre Mode or or Borderless Mode for a full screen effect.
Conclusion
The most recent upgrade to Linux Mint 22.2 “Zara” is very pain free. Afterwards, everything just works. In addition, enhancements to existing features along with Fingwit, makes this the best Linux Mint yet.