A refreshed Linux Mint 22.3 (Zena) OS installer is available for download, powered by Linux kernel 7.0.

The distro made the first Linux Mint 22.3 HWE ISO available in March, with an installer that boots Linux 6.17 by default. That image remains available to download alongside the newest one, which boots Linux 7.0, and the original Linux Mint 22.3 (Zena) ISO that boots Linux 6.14.

The Linux Mint HWE images provide the same core Linux Mint 22.3 experience, still based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, but it all sits on top of a refreshed hardware stack. Existing Mint users don’t need to reinstall their OS as the HWE kernels are provided as software updates.

So, as I noted when reported on the last one, these are not new releases of Linux Mint per se, but the current stable version with a newer kernel baked in.

Canonical began rolling out the final Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Hardware Enablement (HWE) kernel in July, backporting Linux 7.0 from Ubuntu 26.04 LTS. That, along with updated GPU drivers and firmware blobs, will be ‘baked’ in to the Ubuntu 24.04.5 ISO, due for release in September.

It’s Canonical’s Ubuntu HWE update that Linux Mint inherits.

The aim of all the hardware enablement malarky? Mint HWE ISOs, like Ubuntu’s LTS point media, keep long-term support OS releases useable, long term. They ensure newer hardware that only works with, or is better supported in, newer kernels, to boot and install.

Linux Mint’s official advice is that users stick with the regular ISO, the one its website serves up by default when the download button is clicked. It says users should only opt for an HWE image with a newer kernel if the regular one ‘does not work’ on their device.

Existing users of Linux Mint 22.3 don’t need to download an ISO and reinstall to get the new HWE kernel as it’s available as a standard software update.

The new HWE ISO arrives alongside news of other improvements the distro is making to its native kernel management tools.