PGP Encryption in Linux Mint 17.1

[Compass]

I have encryption enabled in my Linux Mint via Thunderbird and the Enigmail add-on and all is working well.
The version of gnu in my Linux Mint Cinnamon 17.1 is version 1.4.16
GnuPG2 version 2.0.22 is available from the Software Manager.
I found on the GnuPGP website that the latest stable version is version 2.0.28
It is stated on several websites I searched, that it is not recommended to have both versions installed at the same time.
My questions are these:
1.) How to remove version 1.4.16
2.) After installing the new version 2.0.28 would I then have to create a new Key Pair.
Regardless of what the answers I receive, I still may not update. I am just curious as I have found no info on the internet regarding how to implement an update.
Thank you.

[Cosmo.]

Why do you want to upgrade to v2?

1.4.x and 2.x get until now updates side-by side, so from the point of security it does not matter. With Enigmail 1.4.x does all what I need. Maybe you have other needs, so back to my starting question.

[Laurent85]

1.) How to remove version 1.4.16

gnupg version 1 series is a dependency required by core system packages, do not try to remove it.

2.) After installing the new version 2.0.28 would I then have to create a new Key Pair.

No.
You can safely install simultaneously version 1 & 2. Excerpt from gnupg2 README file :

GNUPG 1.4 AND GNUPG 2.0
=======================
GnuPG 2.0 is a newer version of GnuPG with additional support for
S/MIME. It has a different design philosophy that splits
functionality up into several modules. Both versions may be installed
simultaneously without any conflict (gpg is called gpg2 in GnuPG 2).
In fact, the gpg version from GnuPG 1.4 is able to make use of the
gpg-agent as included in GnuPG 2 and allows for seamless passphrase
caching. The advantage of GnuPG 1.4 is its smaller size and no
dependency on other modules at run and build time.

According to enigmail wiki "You are encouraged to additionally install the GnuPG 2.0 package using your packet manager software", see http://enigmail.wiki/Advanced_Operation ... n_of_GnuPG for further setup details.

[Compass]

Thank you both for your replies....Laurent85...I read your reply and went ahead and installed the gnupg2 through the Software Manager. I figured since they recommend doing so, it would obviously be a good idea.
In Thunderbird if I go to Enigmail then Preferences, the Basic tab says it is using Gnupg was found in /usr/bin/gpg
I know that gpg2 was also installed in /usr/bin but is not used by Enigmail in this instance that I can tell. But I can tell you that after installing the gnupg2 I wrote a e-mail to myself and encrypted and signed it and the e-mail was encrypted and sent in what seemed like half the time it normally took to send an encrypted e-mail before having installed the gnupg2 so I think the gnupg2 or it's dependencies may have played a factor....I am not sure....but, the e-mail was sent and received successfully so all is good.
Thank you both for your replies.....this ,above all else is what makes Linux such an enjoyable operating system to use.
Take care.