3 Update The System

Now it's time to check for updates and install them. This is done using the Update Manager. Start it from Menu > Administration > Update Manager:

Type in your password to gain authorization:

The Update Manager tells you which updates are available (you can click on the Refresh button to refresh the list). Click on Install Updates to install them:

When the update is complete, click on Close (if a new kernel was amongst the updates, a system restart is required to make the changes effective).

The system is now up-to-date.

4 Flash Player And Java

Flash Player and Java should already be installed on the system.

To check this, open Firefox and type about:plugins in the address bar. Firefox will then list all installed plugins, and it should list the Flash Player (version 11.2 r202) plugins among them:

5 Inventory Of What We Have So Far

Now let's browse all menus to see which of our needed applications are already installed:

You should find the following situation ([x] marks an application that is already installed, whereas [ ] is an application that is missing):

Graphics:
[x] The GIMP
[ ] Shotwell Photo Manager
[ ] Pinta

Internet:
[x] Firefox
[ ] FileZilla
[x] Thunderbird
[ ] Deluge
[ ] Skype
[ ] Marble
[x] Pidgin
[ ] Dropbox
[ ] Gwibber Social Client

Office:
[ ] LibreOffice Writer
[ ] LibreOffice Calc
[ ] Adobe Reader
[ ] GnuCash
[ ] Scribus

Sound & Video:
[ ] Audacity
[x] Banshee
[ ] dvd::rip
[ ] Kino
[x] VLC Media Player
[ ] K3B
[ ] Multimedia-Codecs
[ ] Winff

Programming:
[ ] KompoZer
[ ] Eclipse

Other:
[ ] VirtualBox
[ ] TrueType fonts
[x] Java
[x] Read/Write support for NTFS partitions
[x] gdebi
[x] Synaptic Package Manager
[x] gedit

So some applications are already on the system. NTFS read-/write support is enabled by default on Mint 14.

6 Install Additional Software

To install additional applications, open the Synaptic Package Manager (Menu > Administration > Synaptic Package Manager):

Type in your password:

In Synaptic Package Manager we can install additional software. You can use the Quick filter field to find packages. To select a package for installation, click on the checkbox in front of it and select Mark for Installation from the menu that comes up:

If a package has a dependency that needs to be satisfied, a window will pop up. Accept the dependencies by clicking on Mark:

The following packages need to be installed if you want the applications of the above primary choice (* is a wildcard; e.g. openjdk-6* means all packages that start with openjdk-6):

• flashplugin-installer
• audacity
• dvdrip
• filezilla
• ttf-mscorefonts-installer
• gnucash
• k3b
• kino
• eclipse
• scribus
• mozilla-plugin-vlc
• non-free-codecs
• ubuntu-restricted-extras
• virtualbox-ose
• skype
  
• shotwell
• pinta
• deluge
• dropbox-nautilus
• marble
• libreoffice
• winff
• openjdk-7*
• gwibber
  

These are the packages for all the other possible alternative applications (you don't need to install them if you are happy with the above selection):

• chromium-browser
• opera
• amarok
• vuze
• bluefish
• gtkpod
• mplayer
• smplayer
• xmms2*
• sound-juicer
• rhythmbox
• xine-plugin
• evolution
• googleearth
• soundconverter
• soundkonverter
• kolourpaint4
• mypaint
• qbittorrent
• okular
• clementine
• exaile

After you've selected the desired packages, click on the Apply button.

Confirm your selection by again clicking on Apply:

The packages are now being downloaded from the repositories and installed. This can take a few minutes, so please be patient:

You might have to answer a few questions. Accept the licenses and proceed:

After all packages have been installed, click on Close: