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Linux Mint Devs Prep Wayland-Native Cinnamon Screensaver for Linux Mint 23
Work on the new Cinnamon screensaver kicked off last month, and it looks like it’s already prepared for the upcoming Linux Mint 23 release, due out in July-August 2026 based on Canonical’s upcoming Ubuntu 26.04 LTS (Resolute Raccoon) long-term supported operating system series.
In current Linux Mint releases, the Cinnamon screensaver is a standalone application written in Python and C, and using the GTK toolkit. The thing is that the current screensaver implementation only works in the Cinnamon X11 session, not in the Wayland one, which is currently still experimental in Linux Mint 22.3.
OMG Ubuntu:
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Linux Mint shows off its new lock screen/screensaver - OMG! Ubuntu
If the word “screensaver” conjures flying star fields or photo slideshows, that’s fair, but in Cinnamon it also acts as the ‘screen locker’. In 2026, ‘saving’ the screen is less of a concern than ‘locking’ it, but many users enjoy seeing a pretty ‘idle’ display.
Cinnamon’s new lock screen will, based on designs shared by Linux Mint, convey more information without you needing to unlock. Battery level, time and date, media player controls and unread notifications counts are shown.
Original here:
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Linux Mint Monthly News – February 2026
Hi everyone, First of all, thank you for your support and your donation! And many thanks to all the people involved in helping Linux Mint. Here’s a preview of what we worked on recently, and which will be featured in the next release.
GamingOnLinux:
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Linux Mint Cinnamon has the new screensaver lock screen ready for Wayland | GamingOnLinux
The Linux Mint team have a new blog post up detailing their new screensaver, which is the last major point for full Wayland support with the Cinnamon desktop.
Originally, there was a dedicated screensaver program which ran as a separate process. That didn't work with Wayland, and the transition between screensaver and desktop wasn't very smooth. It was also really complex to maintain. So with the new one it's built with Cinnamon itself handling it - so everything is modern and smooth.
MakeUseOf:
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Linux Mint finally fixed its Wayland problem and it’s a game changer
Linux Mint has always been a little stubborn about big changes. While much of the Linux world spent the last few years marching toward Wayland, Mint calmly stayed parked on X11 like someone watching the chaos from a safe distance with a cup of coffee. Not because the developers were ignoring the future, but because their flagship desktop simply wasn’t ready for it. That situation is finally shifting. After years of quiet groundwork, Cinnamon can now run on Wayland, which removes one of the biggest technical barriers Mint has been carrying around.
It is still early and a bit experimental, but the important part is this: the door that used to be locked is now open. For long-time Mint users, that moment has been a long time coming. Wayland has been the looming “next step” in Linux graphics for years, and Mint’s absence from that transition has often raised eyebrows. Now the distro is finally stepping onto the same path, just in its usual careful and methodical way.
Neowin:
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Linux Mint is getting a new Wayland-compatible screensaver - Neowin
It's a new month, and the Linux Mint team has released its report detailing work done last month, mainly covering a new sensor monitoring tool and a completely re-engineered screensaver.
The next version of Linux Mint will ship with a Sensors page in the System Reports tool. This new panel lists all detected hardware sensors and lets you monitor things like fan speeds and CPU temperatures as their values refresh automatically. The amount of information shown will depend entirely on what a computer's manufacturer chooses to expose.