Linux Mint Forums

I was told that mint14 is better than mint13. If I may ask, how is it better? Then there is the options of d/l Mate/Cinnamon/XFCE/KDE . What are the differences? I understand they are different window managers but how are they different?

In terms of windows managers for the Linux desktop, the two main directions are Gnome based or KDE based
https://www.gnome.org/
http://www.kde.org/

• Gnome is usually considered to be a simplified (for user) editing process of menus and kde is usually considered the most customizable for user editing
  --kde has more direct edit options than Gnome
• Also Mint has forked both the Gnome 2x and the Home 3x desktops
  Mate/Cinnamom being the Gnome 3x fork (Mint's own development of the desktop menu structure..)
  --avoiding the debacle that has been the Ubuntu/Gnome Unity 3x desktop decisions..

Mint also has other lighter weight desktop choices: Xfce, Lxde and so on..

• Lighter weight desktop usually means less user options directly from menus, for example xfce uses text files to manage menu entries (as do others) but does not have a provided menu editor for the user..

Basically which Mint is best (a user's personal experience or opinion) is just that a personal opinion + their experience; your mileage will vary
--and may not remotely match..

Way to much info needed. And none are going to post a 2-3 pages of info on the features sets of all those WM's.

That is where google comes in. Search out each and read about it. As will take hours or days to get an all around general understanding of the advantages and features of each. And the pro's & con's running on your particular setup and needs.
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bmike1 wrote:I was told that mint14 is better than mint13. If I may ask, how is it better? Then there is the options of d/l Mate/Cinnamon/XFCE/KDE . What are the differences? I understand they are different window managers but how are they different?

just as an average user,

Mate - normal gnome
cinnamon - eye-pleasing, still new in its development
xfce - for older computers/laptops
kde - my fav., eye-pleasing

Mint 14 is no way better than 13. Mint Maya 13 is Long Term Support while Nadia 14 is based upon the six month release of Ubuntu. More care goes into the LTS version of an OS then the six month no-matter-if-it's-full-of bugs release Ubuntu releases every April and October.

Depends. Linux Mint 14 kernel is working much better for me than the Linux Mint 13 kernel. I tried installing that kernel on Linux Mint 13 (which is an unsupported and untested kernel for that release), and that stopped me from being able to boot. But if everything is working flawlessly for you, then yes you are fine running Linux Mint 13. It is the long-term support release, and if you have few demands for newer versions of your programs you can continue using it for a long while (till April 2017).