A KDE User's Review of LinuxMint 10

[BSmith1012]

As the titles says, I recently wrote a review for linuxmint 10, gnome edition. I almost never use a gnome distro, but once I tried out linuxmint I just had to write a review about it. Its a great distro, and if it wasnt for one application I would be using it for my everyday computer. Please read the review and tell me what you think. Thanks!

http://bsmith1012.blogspot.com/2011/01/ ... eview.html

[wayne128]

Hi Ban,

Just curious and have a quick read.
This one catch my attention because I have been drag and drop in Nautilus for too long, on many Linux OSes:

No way to click and drag over files or folders, you have to use Ctrl or Shift keys

What I do is follow decade old method of using dual panel type of file manager [ like norton commander, window commander ( rename to total commander), midnight commander, etc] . For example I want to manage copy or move from one drive or folder to another drive or folder, I open two Nautilus windows for both folders, then I just mouse to one file on first windows and drag to another windows..
Perhaps your statement means something else..

[Habitual]

Nautilus > F3 = "extra" Pane/tab

gnome-commander has dual-pane by default.

[TBABill]

Pretty nice review. At least you didn't just cover how to install with some screenshots and a few generic comments. Those reviews really drive me nuts when looking for a professional opinion from an experienced user with various Linux distros. Your review, however, pointed out good and bad and even showed examples of the actual functions that make Mint special, like the software center, menu, nautilus, etc. I'm not a fan of nautilus either, but I make it work. Definite spots for improvement, but that carries to any distro using it unfortunately.

Great job and it's a shame the distro couldn't better meet your needs for the long term.

[BSmith1012]

@wayne128: Thank you for your response. Drag and Drop is not something I mentioned in my review, instead you might be referring to the problems I had with selecting by click and dragging over files and folders. I wish now that I had remembered to mention Drag and Drop though, because I had some issues with the way nautilus would automatically copy something to another folder. Instead, in dolphin, the user is prompted for if they wish to copy to the new location or if they wish to move to the new location. Which I think is much more helpful.

@Habitual: I had guessed that there was a shortcut key, but Im never good about remembering to press a keyboard key instead of pressing a button. It just seemed unnecessarily restricting to not let me place that button onto the toolbar.

@TBABill: I hate those reviews! Im sure they're much easier to write though, as this review took me a lot longer than I had anticipated. Still, I tried to write it focusing on those things I would like to know myself if I was deciding to use a distro or not. I appreciate your kind words, and hopefully I can revisit LinuxMint sometime in the future.

[Dave68]

The neutrality of it all was very comforting. You covered the key features that make Mint what it is.

I've never used a KDE Distro, although I'm going to create a Live USB of the recently released Julia KDE. I hear a lot about KDE, so I figured I would see what all the excitement is about. You should give it a go as well. (I smell another review for you. LOL)

Good Review,
Dave

[alquimista]

I have been using KDE distros for a while: Kubuntu, OpenSuse 11.2, 11.3. I once tried Ubuntu GNome and I didn't like it; it was not as colorful or as playful as KDE. I have been using Mint 9 KDE for about 3 months now on my desktop ( 3GB RAM, 480 GB HD, Intel Motherboard, Pentium Dual Core 2 Duo ); I have been happy since it has been the more stable, friendly and polished KDE distro I have tested.
Yesterday I created a partition to test Mint 10 Gnome. I was pleasantly surprised: the interface was much more polished than Mint 9 KDE; I had the general impression of faster speed and better image quality. Software like OpenOffice loads much faster... It seems simpler than KDE, and a bit more friendly. Windows effects are smother and more refined.
I have been reading some reviews on Mint 10 KDE... as being ok, yet slower than 9 KDE. Maybe I'll move to Mint 10 Gnome for a while...In synthesis (for me): faster, seems solid, more refined and friendly.