What made you switch to Linux Mint?
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Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
Hi. I'm new here so please bear with me.
I haven't switched completely as I still have Windows apps that don't have alternatives in Linux. In terms of why I chose Linux Mint, it's probably because it's always in one of the top 10, 20 distros when using a search engine. And partly because of its name. I've tried about 15 distros on a USB stick. Although some are on the top 10 list like Fedora, Open Suse, etc., I didn't even include them in my trial runs. I thought, "Who wants to have an OS with names like Fedora, Open Suse, etc.? (BTW, Linux Mint's un-encouraging, boring gray default background kept me away from it in the past. I'd suggest that they put rainbow colors in there.) Also, I was looking for an XP alternative, which to me, is the best and simplest OS that ever came out.
Long story short, after installing/uninstalling distros for several years (about twice a year), I finally settled with Linux Mint Cinnamon and Xfce. I would have picked only XFCE had it included some features in Cinnamon like Magnifier/Zoom and Brightness applets, which I use in my laptop as I have slight eye problems.
I like Xfce because it's got the XP feel like the TWO column items in the start menu. I don't really get the idea of MATE and Cinnamon's 3-4 column start menus with the Logout included in the first column.
Oh well, I just hope they'll (Mate and Cinnamon) include an option to customize the start menus to make it look like Xfce, that is with 2 columns on the Start menu and the Logout and other items are separated.
(I'll be back...)
I haven't switched completely as I still have Windows apps that don't have alternatives in Linux. In terms of why I chose Linux Mint, it's probably because it's always in one of the top 10, 20 distros when using a search engine. And partly because of its name. I've tried about 15 distros on a USB stick. Although some are on the top 10 list like Fedora, Open Suse, etc., I didn't even include them in my trial runs. I thought, "Who wants to have an OS with names like Fedora, Open Suse, etc.? (BTW, Linux Mint's un-encouraging, boring gray default background kept me away from it in the past. I'd suggest that they put rainbow colors in there.) Also, I was looking for an XP alternative, which to me, is the best and simplest OS that ever came out.
Long story short, after installing/uninstalling distros for several years (about twice a year), I finally settled with Linux Mint Cinnamon and Xfce. I would have picked only XFCE had it included some features in Cinnamon like Magnifier/Zoom and Brightness applets, which I use in my laptop as I have slight eye problems.
I like Xfce because it's got the XP feel like the TWO column items in the start menu. I don't really get the idea of MATE and Cinnamon's 3-4 column start menus with the Logout included in the first column.
Oh well, I just hope they'll (Mate and Cinnamon) include an option to customize the start menus to make it look like Xfce, that is with 2 columns on the Start menu and the Logout and other items are separated.
(I'll be back...)
- Spearmint2
- Level 16
- Posts: 6900
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 1:41 pm
- Location: Maryland, USA
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
sounds like you might prefer Zorin if XP looks is all important.
All things go better with Mint. Mint julep, mint jelly, mint gum, candy mints, pillow mints, peppermint, chocolate mints, spearmint,....
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
If you install and use Configurable Menu for Cinnamon, you can change the layout to look like Whisker (XFCE), Windows 7, Gnome Classic (A/P/S), or a number of others.thom_A wrote:Hi. I'm new here so please bear with me.
I haven't switched completely as I still have Windows apps that don't have alternatives in Linux. In terms of why I chose Linux Mint, it's probably because it's always in one of the top 10, 20 distros when using a search engine. And partly because of its name. I've tried about 15 distros on a USB stick. Although some are on the top 10 list like Fedora, Open Suse, etc., I didn't even include them in my trial runs. I thought, "Who wants to have an OS with names like Fedora, Open Suse, etc.? (BTW, Linux Mint's un-encouraging, boring gray default background kept me away from it in the past. I'd suggest that they put rainbow colors in there.) Also, I was looking for an XP alternative, which to me, is the best and simplest OS that ever came out.
Long story short, after installing/uninstalling distros for several years (about twice a year), I finally settled with Linux Mint Cinnamon and Xfce. I would have picked only XFCE had it included some features in Cinnamon like Magnifier/Zoom and Brightness applets, which I use in my laptop as I have slight eye problems.
I like Xfce because it's got the XP feel like the TWO column items in the start menu. I don't really get the idea of MATE and Cinnamon's 3-4 column start menus with the Logout included in the first column.
Oh well, I just hope they'll (Mate and Cinnamon) include an option to customize the start menus to make it look like Xfce, that is with 2 columns on the Start menu and the Logout and other items are separated.
(I'll be back...)
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
Thanks for the info. I'll play with it and see if I could come up with 2 column icons/apps in the Start Menu, with favorites on the left side and apps on the right. And separating the Shutdown/Logout and other items somewhere.Alley Cat wrote:If you install and use Configurable Menu for Cinnamon, you can change the layout to look like Whisker (XFCE), Windows 7, Gnome Classic (A/P/S), or a number of others.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
I really really hate the windows 7 look, but its far better than windows 8/8.1(i cant stand version 8 peace of cow dung), or windows 10.Alley Cat wrote: If you install and use Configurable Menu for Cinnamon, you can change the layout to look like Whisker (XFCE), Windows 7, Gnome Classic (A/P/S), or a number of others.
When i was using windows xp i had it in classic mode, i do like the file manager of xp just not start menu.
Now you need to install software to get your start menu back windows 8.0+
I just wished i took screenshots of my old desktops, i started taking screenshots of my desktop in ubuntu 10.04.
Either way thats awesome alley cat, its awesome to have choices, and not be forced, to some one attempting to reinvent the wheel when it just works fine.
In mate "stock" you have an option for 3 menus, i personally love the menu bar, FOREVER!!!
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
This is the closest I can have with the available options in the Configurable Menu (Cinnamon applet), based on my personal prefs. It's called Kicker. The Whisker didn't have the Favorites in either 2 columns. My choice is about the cursor not travelling long distances. It should glide smoothly starting from the (start) menu, then categories or favorites, or categories with favorites as the default if it's in the second column. I could always place often-used apps on the desktop or panel, everywhere...
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
my question can be very dumb but, the items in your menu are they links or sub menus? like accessories looks like it has sub menu. and the rest links as if you open them in a file manager eg caja. i dont use cinamon, i use mate. very interesting taste, i like the colors.thom_A wrote:This is the closest I can have with the available options in the Configurable Menu (Cinnamon applet), based on my personal prefs. It's called Kicker. The Whisker didn't have the Favorites in either 2 columns. My choice is about the cursor not travelling long distances. It should glide smoothly starting from the (start) menu, then categories or favorites, or categories with favorites as the default if it's in the second column. I could always place often-used apps on the desktop or panel, everywhere...
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
They are called categories.reddot wrote:my question can be very dumb but, the items in your menu are they links or sub menus? like accessories looks like it has sub menu. and the rest links as if you open them in a file manager eg caja. i dont use cinamon, i use mate. very interesting taste, i like the colors.
Sorry for any confusion. I was focusing on a simplified menu. The color is irrelevant. There's not a lot of choices I could pick from the available ones. I would have preferred contrasting colors where one column or the other is lighter. Almost all of the ones available have no contrast. It's probably because the text is global. Changing the background color of one column would affect the text. So don't mind the color.
If you read my first post I was really going for an Xfce menu, which is exactly the one you will see in the Mint Xfce edition. I'm using Cinnamon because there are features in it that are not available in Mint Xfce like the Applet system. Since I'm not a fan of Cinnamon's start menu, the compromise I got is the one you see above, which is called Kicker. I would have gone for the Whisker, but it is missing the Favorites category. Anyways, it's all about personal preferences. If you find Mate better, go for it.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
i loaded up cinnamon today to look at the menus, but i got stuck when i found out about applets, man theres hundreds of them, i wish mate had an option to look for online "add to panels", its applet for cinnamon, i also checked out xubuntu 14.04 and they fixed something i no longer get the panels to crash. since i had little time ill check out cinnamon again later this week i do want to check out the menus availablethom_A wrote:
They are called categories.
Sorry for any confusion. I was focusing on a simplified menu. The color is irrelevant. There's not a lot of choices I could pick from the available ones. I would have preferred contrasting colors where one column or the other is lighter. Almost all of the ones available have no contrast. It's probably because the text is global. Changing the background color of one column would affect the text. So don't mind the color.
If you read my first post I was really going for an Xfce menu, which is exactly the one you will see in the Mint Xfce edition. I'm using Cinnamon because there are features in it that are not available in Mint Xfce like the Applet system. Since I'm not a fan of Cinnamon's start menu, the compromise I got is the one you see above, which is called Kicker. I would have gone for the Whisker, but it is missing the Favorites category. Anyways, it's all about personal preferences. If you find Mate better, go for it.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
I switched to Linux Mint because I couldn't afford to run Windows 7 on my 1 desktop machine and 2 laptops. At $120.00 per license it was simply unfeasible. In addition to this Canonical decided that everybody wants the unity interface. On top of all this; every kernel since 2.6x has been filled with bugs. To the point where it seems Linus Torvalds' goal is breaking compatibility release to release.
So what is a guy to do? Try Linux Mint!...
My first interaction with Mint was the newly released Mint 13 xfce edition. I installed it on my lowest powered laptop; an IBM ThinkPad X41 with a 1.2Ghz ulv processor, 1.5Gb RAM, and a 60Gb ssd. Windows XP with all updates was slow, Windows 7 was unusable for anything except to look at.
Linux Mint 13 xfce was FAST, very stable for a Linux Based distro, and with a few tweaks had all hardware buttons etc, up and running. Within 2 days I had customized it to look like Windows 7 and now had a laptop that was fully functional and as fast as my desktop PC running Windows 7. From there I branched off into Mint Cinnamon, while starting up a small laptop/PC repair business. In the course of doing business I often get broken laptops for free and I fix them up and put Linux Mint on them. Xfce for lower power devices, and Cinnamon for higher power devices.
I am now at Mint 17.2 and running a home that is completely free of Microsoft products. Most importantly, thanks to the efforts of team Mint, I have the big 3 many want in their computing sphere:
1) An updated OS, with regular security updates.
2) Computers that are fully functional and snappy in their performances/executions.
3) Peace of mind that "end of life" for the operating system doesn't equal end of hardware.
Overall I am impressed by the accomplishments of team Mint enough that in my business, I try to use the Windows XP end of life situation, to get people turned on to Linux Mint. I have sold 12 desktop systems and 1 laptop in the last 4 months and have yet to receive a single service call or complaint. The systems JUST WORK! Some of my clients use the computers as home PC's and others run their business with them.
So what is a guy to do? Try Linux Mint!...
My first interaction with Mint was the newly released Mint 13 xfce edition. I installed it on my lowest powered laptop; an IBM ThinkPad X41 with a 1.2Ghz ulv processor, 1.5Gb RAM, and a 60Gb ssd. Windows XP with all updates was slow, Windows 7 was unusable for anything except to look at.
Linux Mint 13 xfce was FAST, very stable for a Linux Based distro, and with a few tweaks had all hardware buttons etc, up and running. Within 2 days I had customized it to look like Windows 7 and now had a laptop that was fully functional and as fast as my desktop PC running Windows 7. From there I branched off into Mint Cinnamon, while starting up a small laptop/PC repair business. In the course of doing business I often get broken laptops for free and I fix them up and put Linux Mint on them. Xfce for lower power devices, and Cinnamon for higher power devices.
I am now at Mint 17.2 and running a home that is completely free of Microsoft products. Most importantly, thanks to the efforts of team Mint, I have the big 3 many want in their computing sphere:
1) An updated OS, with regular security updates.
2) Computers that are fully functional and snappy in their performances/executions.
3) Peace of mind that "end of life" for the operating system doesn't equal end of hardware.
Overall I am impressed by the accomplishments of team Mint enough that in my business, I try to use the Windows XP end of life situation, to get people turned on to Linux Mint. I have sold 12 desktop systems and 1 laptop in the last 4 months and have yet to receive a single service call or complaint. The systems JUST WORK! Some of my clients use the computers as home PC's and others run their business with them.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
If using Cinnamon, go to system settings>applets>available online> and install Configurable menuthom_A wrote:
Oh well, I just hope they'll (Mate and Cinnamon) include an option to customize the start menus to make it look like Xfce, that is with 2 columns on the Start menu and the Logout and other items are separated.
(I'll be back...)
Then right click the taskbar and select edit mode to remove the current start menu. Then head back to the installed applets window and right click configurable menu and "add to taskbar".
This applet will place a start menu icon on the taskbar and it comes with all kinds of start menu configurations including Whisker menu (xfce's start menu). To see all the options just right click the start menu icon on the taskbar and select "configure". Hope this helps.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
That's what I did, as suggested by Alley Cat here if you slightly move back to the thread:g2k wrote:If using Cinnamon, go to system settings>applets>available online> and install Configurable menu.
I started with trying out all the flavors, Cinnamon, KDE, Mate, Xfce. (You could actually multi-boot all of them alongside Windows.) It then reduced to just Cinnamon and Xfce. But a few days ago i decided to just stick with one Mint flavor, clean up my hard drive and just boot with Cinnamon and Windows. I used to follow KDE back in the days, but when I revisited it (17.2) I figured it's not for me. it requires too many clicks to achieve results. You have to constantly hit the Apply button. I really have no time to customize it. Mate to me is confusing as well. I'm not into Compiz or any of that stuff. I just want something simple, be able to launch apps, access files easily, etc. And I do think Cinnamon is the result of devs doing away with all the unnecessary complexity.Alley Cat wrote:If you install and use Configurable Menu for Cinnamon, you can change the layout to look like Whisker (XFCE), Windows 7, Gnome Classic (A/P/S), or a number of others.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
Right on. I neglected to read back into the previous thread pages.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
I personally switched because of Vista. Windows really screwed up, is kind of the bottom line in that rationale. It might be similiar for someone else as MS continues to experiment and try to catch up (as always) with others are doing. It seems to me that the look of Windows 8 was very much an attempt to catch up to Android and iOS tablets. Supposedly they are going straight to Windows 10 (instead of Windows 9) because it's 'so much more revolutionary'. If - and no one will know until it's released - what marketing & product managers at MS think is 'revolutionary' is klunky krap that users don't actually need or like, then you may find people you know willing to try something like Linux Mint.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
My parents who are in their late 60's also switched to Linux, which was a surprise.
Their reason is that the had an old scanner they wanted to keep using. The scanner originally came with a Windows 98 driver disc (yeah, old). It had sat in storage in the garage for a long time, but they had photos from a trip to Ireland they wanted to scan and didn't want to buy a new scanner.
Viola! CUPS and Xsane saved the day.
I set up their system pretty simply and even included Virtualbox with WindowsXP in case they just absolutely needed it. They haven't touched it.
They use the laptop to check email, read news articles, and occasionally shop on Amazon. They used the scanner for the one project and that's it. If they need a word processor, they're comfortable with OpenOffice (now LibreOffice, but it was Oo when I installed Linux for them).
I think if my fairly computer-illiterate parents can use Linux, then almost anyone can.
Their reason is that the had an old scanner they wanted to keep using. The scanner originally came with a Windows 98 driver disc (yeah, old). It had sat in storage in the garage for a long time, but they had photos from a trip to Ireland they wanted to scan and didn't want to buy a new scanner.
Viola! CUPS and Xsane saved the day.
I set up their system pretty simply and even included Virtualbox with WindowsXP in case they just absolutely needed it. They haven't touched it.
They use the laptop to check email, read news articles, and occasionally shop on Amazon. They used the scanner for the one project and that's it. If they need a word processor, they're comfortable with OpenOffice (now LibreOffice, but it was Oo when I installed Linux for them).
I think if my fairly computer-illiterate parents can use Linux, then almost anyone can.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
I installed Linux Mint on my Dell Inspiron 1765, an older laptop. I grew tired of the way Windows handled updates -- especially after I had to replace the hard drive and had to endure hundreds of files to update using the Windows update manager. Also, that manager caused my computer to not update because one or more updates were corrupt or damaged in some way. I decided to ditch Windows altogether and give Linux a try. I've only had it up and running a few days but I am impressed with the simplicity of installation and I like the Mint desktop. It is so much better than the Linux I played with 15 or 20 years ago. I'm keeping Windows on my desktop because I am using it with my ham radio and I am not sure the applications would work in this environment -- besides, I'm following the old principle of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!)
I'm looking forward to many years of a stable, well designed operating system with this Linux Mint.
I'm looking forward to many years of a stable, well designed operating system with this Linux Mint.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
In my case, as in many already mentioned here, the reasons are twofold: the usual dissatisfaction with windows (I think a lot more people are dissatisfied with it they just don't know it yet
or simply think 'an OS just works this way').
The other reason, and that is more important in my opinion, is that Mint is a great OS in its own right. This, I think, is what should be emphasized more and more,
because quite often when recommending linux mint (or other distro for that matter) people focus on windows, its 'quirks' and how it sucks. Maybe it's better to focus on what makes mint such a great system,
its stability, speed, safety, aesthetics and, to some extent, some kind of coolness factor (and the unbeatable price )
At the end of the day maybe the question shouldn't be 'why did you switch?' but rather 'why do so many people still use windows?'
cheers
or simply think 'an OS just works this way').
The other reason, and that is more important in my opinion, is that Mint is a great OS in its own right. This, I think, is what should be emphasized more and more,
because quite often when recommending linux mint (or other distro for that matter) people focus on windows, its 'quirks' and how it sucks. Maybe it's better to focus on what makes mint such a great system,
its stability, speed, safety, aesthetics and, to some extent, some kind of coolness factor (and the unbeatable price )
At the end of the day maybe the question shouldn't be 'why did you switch?' but rather 'why do so many people still use windows?'
cheers
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
I had never been the most computer savvy until a few years ago. After 5 laptops in 6 years with Windows (probably could have fixed them if I knew how at the time) when the last one gave up the ghost I decided to teach myself how to fix up laptops and get a bit more tech savvy with regards to coding/software etc so I rebuilt the laptop and installed Ubuntu, bit the bullet. Unfortunately Ubuntu 14.04 didn't seem to like my laptop, after various issues and three re-installs I was ready to sack linux off and go back to Windows but I though I'd give mint a go....WOW. Never looking back. I could write a 50,000 word essay on why I love Mint but I'm sure you have all heard it before, so WOW will have to do.
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
Posters should also indicate why Linux Mint and not Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Fedora, Open Suse, Mageia, Elementary, Red Hat, etc. etc. We have read millions of reasons why Linux and not Windows. It would be more useful to read why Linux Mint and not Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Fedora, Open Suse, etc.
Just this morning I tried Linux Lite on USB live, and it seems fine. It got the same Xfce interface Mint Xfce has. It's not trying to re-invent the wheel, it's got Firefox with Google as it's home page default, its Gimp defaults to single window, it's not trying to sell you anything, and it may have other points of simplification. I wish I have time to explore it further, but overall it seems it's all I needed. That is if I have to switch to another distro.
Just this morning I tried Linux Lite on USB live, and it seems fine. It got the same Xfce interface Mint Xfce has. It's not trying to re-invent the wheel, it's got Firefox with Google as it's home page default, its Gimp defaults to single window, it's not trying to sell you anything, and it may have other points of simplification. I wish I have time to explore it further, but overall it seems it's all I needed. That is if I have to switch to another distro.
- Spearmint2
- Level 16
- Posts: 6900
- Joined: Sat May 04, 2013 1:41 pm
- Location: Maryland, USA
Re: What made you switch to Linux Mint?
OKthom_A wrote:Posters should also indicate why Linux Mint and not Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Fedora, Open Suse, Mageia, Elementary, Red Hat, etc. etc. We have read millions of reasons why Linux and not Windows. It would be more useful to read why Linux Mint and not Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Fedora, Open Suse, etc.
Easy Peasy - dormant, seemed more for a tablet
Knoppix - as always seems more suited to a rescue disc.
Ubuntu - DO NOT LIKE the Unity interface. The approach seems disjointed to me.
Lubuntu CD version - daughter likes, but I discovered problems I didn't like, such as trying to get the "Print" key for screen captures to work. Lack of a working keybinder and repository wasn't helpful in finding one that worked, tried several.
Kubuntu - great system. not crazy about hot corners. Pulse wasn't that attractive to me. Dolphin probably be OK with some font and size adjustments. Used it for months before finding Mint. I consider it the second best distro now, but unfortunately is rated lower at distrowatch.
Edubuntu - many programs, some not all that great, not at all easy for children to use, yet trying to be all things to all education environments, sometimes confusing, could use better arrangement. My teen's test report was similar "Ewww!"
Zorin - Seems to be a good system, set up well, has "windows" appeal, but support seems thin which worries me enough to not make it my main system.
Mageia - another good system, seems to have stronger support team than Zorin, but not robust support. Has a woman's touch that appeals to some, as in prettied up a bit. Not tried my teen daughter on it yet.
Fedora and Suse - not tried them in years. Of the two, just by watching other's reviews, I'd probably prefer Suse over Fedora.
also tried the Norwegian produced Skole, maybe great for a school setting, not for personal home computer, at least for me.
Your turn.....!
All things go better with Mint. Mint julep, mint jelly, mint gum, candy mints, pillow mints, peppermint, chocolate mints, spearmint,....