Based on Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx, Linux 2.6.32, Gnome 2.30 and Xorg 7.4, Linux Mint 9 "Isadora" features a lot of improvements and the latest software from the Open Source World.

Featured improvements in this release: 30,000 applications catalogued and reviewable both online and in the new software manager, brand new incremental backup tool for both data and software selection, menu transparency and editable items, USB and Windows installers, 3 years support, look & feel improvements.

New Software Manager

The Software Manager was rewritten from scratch. It features the best ideas from the original Software Manager, Gnome App-Install and the new Ubuntu Software Center. It’s also much more efficient than the previous version, handling 30,000+ packages and asynchronous installation/removal of applications in less than 1,000 lines of code.

Number of packages: The Software Manager now features all the packages available on your system. That’s about 30,000 packages to choose from, compared to around 300 in the previous version.

This is the version which does not contain the codecs which have dubious licences. You can easily install these codecs by using the Software Centre or apt etc.