Can I expect Mint to work like Ubuntu 8.10 + Mint features?

[AK Dave]

Answers:
1. Yes, pretty much thats what you have with Mint. It takes Ubuntu and wraps in some Mint-specific programs, media codecs, and some other "restricted" services.

2. Yes. Mint Update works very well. Better than Ubuntu's stock update. Mint scores/rates updates available from Ubuntu based on how likely the update is to break a normal system. Thats a simplistic, but not entirely inaccurate, way of understanding the "rating" system. Ubuntu doesn't. But they're the same updates. By default, Mint won't show you the more dangerous updates. But you can change that. By default, neither Mint nor Ubuntu gives you immediate access to Ubuntu's Proposed or Backports line of updates. But you can change that too. Mint's rating system allows you to keep an install at a specified level of stability for an extended period of time, but you can override the defaults.