MX Linux 21.3 “Wildflower” Released: Debian 11.6 Base, Xfce 4.18, Improved Hardware Support

MX Linux 21.3 has been a “wildflower”. Continued over the weekend Bringing bug fixes, kernel, and application updates. Specifically, MX Linux is now based on the latest Debian 11.6 base and comes with Xfce 4.18 which was released in December. As a point release, MX-21 users should not bother reinstalling MX Linux to get this update, instead, you can apply all available updates.

For those just hearing about MX Linux, it is ranked #1 on Distrowatch’s Page Hits ranking, meaning it is one of the most visited distros by Linux users. It offers Xfce, KDE, and Fluxbox editions and aims to offer a good feature set while minimizing computer resources. Its Debian base also makes it a very stable choice.

Key highlights of this update include the following:

• Debian 11.6 “bullseye” base.
• New and updated applications.
• Xfce releases now feature Xfce 4.18.
• Fluxbox gets a new mx-rofi-manager tool for saving and managing rofi configuration.
• The KDE release is now a fully “AHS” (Advanced Hardware Support) enabled release, defaulting to the 6.0 AHS kernel. The Debian stable kernel (5.10) is still available in mx-packageinstaller.
• Deb Installer: A new tool to directly install deb files and Xfce and Fluxbox ISOs. Replaces gdebi.
• All releases now ship with the Manualbar menu editor. mx-menu-editor is now deprecated.
• Firmware packages are updated in all releases.
• Updated Anti-X Live/Remaster system.
• Most MX apps received translation updates (with more to come!).

Of note, the main Xfce and Fluxbox ISOs are using the new Linux 5.10 kernel while the AHS version and KDE are using the Linux 6.0 kernel. If you are interested in trying MX Linux, you can get it here. The project’s download page. If you’re looking for a basic MX Linux experience, the MX-21.3_x64 Xfce edition is probably what you’re looking for, although there are 32-bit versions if your system is older.