MX Linux has gained a lot of traction in the last few years. It is a distro based on Debian’s stable branch. And that is one of the cool things about MX Linux, because it’s not just another Ubuntu-based distro. They completely skip that step and go straight basing on Debian.
Related: MX Linux: A Great Linux Distro Designed with the User in Mind
Now MX Linux 21 finally becomes available, and it is based on Debian 11 “Bullseye”. The Linux kernel was updated to version 5.10.
One thing you may have notices if you follow MX Linux at all, is there was no version 20. If you asking yourself why is that, the simple answer is because they use their major release versions based off of the year that it’s released. For example, this is MX Linux 21, and year is 2021. The last major MX Linux version was 19 that was year 2019.
And being that they are going off of these major Debian releases, if Debian doesn’t have a major release neither is MX Linux. So that is why we have that missed version.
What’s New in MX Linux 21
Now other than some basic application additions and updates, a major focus is actually on the new UEFI Live boot menu. Now you can select all your live boot options from the boot menu instead of having to use the system console menus.
Additionally, MX Linux 21 has added LVM support in the partition selection area. At the moment this really only works if a LVM partition already exist. Probably the MX Linux devs are going to later on add full LVM support so you can make LVM partitions through this.
Furthermore, another change in the system is the super user password is going to be required whenever you do any administrative tasks. MX Linux 21 added an option within the MX Tweak tool to go ahead and enable or disable this if you see fit.
There is also a lot of general configuration changes and you are gonna primarily notice this within the actual panels of Xfce as well as the default panel plugins.
On top of that, now Mesa vulkan drivers are installed by default and there is added a better support for Realtek-based WiFi devices. On the desktop environments front, you get the latest Xfce 4.16 and KDE Plasma 5.20. The fluxbox edition of MX Linux 21 features Fluxbox version 1.3.7 with mx-fluxbox 3.0 configurations.
For users new to MX Linux, there is a utility in MX-21 that is intended to help you understand the basics of your desktop. It is called MX Tour, and is available from the main menu, and the Welcome screen.
Last but not least, MX Linux 21 introduces a new theme called MX-Comfort, which is now the default theme, including dark variants and “thick border” Xfwm variants.
For detailed information about all changes in MX Linux 21, you can refer to the official announcement.
Download
You can download the latest .ISO from the project’s download page. The MX Linux developers are offering both 32-bit and 64-bit versions too. Only the KDE Plasma variant doesn’t have a 32-bit option.
You left out the new MX Tour application that teaches users about the desktop environment that they have installed and important MX and other useful applications.
Hi,
You are absolutely right and I can only thank you very much for your remark.
It has now been corrected and the article has been updated.
Best,
Bobby
You’re very welcome, I like the way you added multiple screenshots to show it off.
While I’m helping, there is a typo, MX-Confort … it is MX-Comfort. 😉
Thanks for the text, the best I’ve read on MX-Linux 21 (and I’ve read a lot!). I loved the screenshots, too.
Hi,
Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate it.
MX Linux deserves it!
MX is a success, because it has a parent Debian base and it’s repositories are fully compatible with. Unlike Ubuntu.
thanks
my usb-live dont want to boot mx in grub
why it jumps always up to other distros in the menu ?
i use multibootsystem and normaly it works fine
The AHS for wifi in 21 (lacking in 19.4) is greatly appreciated. A tutorial on features in the persistence menu would be appreciated though, as there is nothing I can find anywhere on the Web that explains how to induce persistence in a Live WallFlower set-up (which was very staightforward in 19.4)
Bobby, can you share the original wallpaper ? (The one on top.. I guess it’s not one of the default ones ).. thank you in advance 🙂
Hey Joe,
Sure. The picture is actually not a wallpaper but just a custom made graphic element (920x460px) to improve the look of the article. 🙂
Glad you like it. I resized it for you so that it fits into the wallpaper category (1920x1080px). Here it is: https://linuxiac.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/mx-linux.zip
I also changed the caption to make it more convenient for general use.
Happy Holidays!
Giving up on MX-21.
It won’t boot from any version, XFCE, KDE or Fluxbox, in the efi configuration recommended.
I appreciate the article. I’m trying to comprehend why MX Linux boots with the brightness all the way down. I love the many features of MX but can’t deal with the brightness problem. Yes, it’s not a mere Issue in my mind: It is an honest-to-gosh full bore (OMG) Problem! Can you enlighten me as to how to correct this or where to go to get an answer?
Hi Larsen,
I think the best place to get help in your case is the MX Linux forum.
https://www.forum.mxlinux.org/
Best,
Bobby
This is a different impression trying to revalorize my Win10 transformer-tablet: it boots! And not just that, install successfully too!
M’well, lets say i’ve attempted quite a few evaluations but having to deal with some hybrid machine with an ‘ia32’ EFI GPT system looking for 32-bits binaries only to launch a whole 64-bits Operating system. Win10 home was only 32-bits and certainly not that agile, so it’s good for the environment as well. Now please don’t make it yet another « Fix Once, Break Many » experience as with pretty much any Linux flavour i can think of… Render it better compatible with rEFInd as returning from the GrUB2 CLi messes up with display resolution somehow, but other than that it’s sleaky, elegant and even acknowledges booting from a Ventoy Secure Boot USB flashdrive, as i recall. Though i actually had to skip Ventoy and revert to Rufus for the USB drive creation. Still, it felt more pleasant and less of a torture for a change. Keep up the good work, that should inspire followers!
Good day, have fun!!