Mint 14,Mate and Cinnamon edition: which one is more stable?

[sonnet]

As per title, I'm looking to install Mint 14 64 bit on the desktop of my girlfriend.
The specs are :
Celeron dual core G550 2.6ghz (it's based on sandy bridge architecture, it's not extremely fast, but still a capable dual core I think)
VGA geforce 430 1GB ddr3 128 bit (again, not top spec, but it should be capable running any DE I think).
8GB ddr3 ram , which is plenty for normal desktop use.

I'd be inclined to install Mate version, as i heard that it's more responsive (I never tried Mate though). But on the other side, I'm under the impression that the Cinnamon version might receive more development and thus support.
Main issue on the choice is the stability, which is something I can't easily figure it out by loading the 2 live images.
So I'd like to receive advice from the users who are already using at least one of the 2 versions.

[bigj231]

To be honest, with that much of a system, you'll never notice a difference in responsiveness unless you have larger problems. It's more powerful than my laptop, and I can run Cinnamon without any slowdowns. The slowest part of the DE is the eyecandy. I'm running Mint 13 Cinnamon with backports enabled, so I have most of the features of 14. I haven't had any crashes yet, outside of self-induced ones. I chose Cinnamon, because I like the feel and style better than the screenshots I've seen of MATE. Make sure whatever you do, that you download the 14.1 ISO before you install. It includes several updates present in the other ISO. It will save you time after you install.

[viking777]

OK. Cinnamon and Mate are just desktops, they aren't distributions, so asking which is the most stable is not a really relevant question imho. You could ask the question which is the most stable - MInt Debian or Mint Main, that would be a valid question (though it may well create some arguments ) but not between desktops. For one thing you can VERY easily install both in which case your girlfriend can choose which one she prefers, and if you have an unlimited internet plan then you can easily download both versions of the dvd and compare them before you even start to think about installing and let her make her own mind up. The only question you can realistically ask about desktops is which do you prefer and that is so extremely subjective that you can only decide once you have used both varieties and made up your own mind.

[Adelante]

I have a Celeron CPU G540 2.50ghz Sandy Bridge with 8GB DDR3. Mesa DRI Intel graphics (I think that's it). Cinnamon works perfectly after a small driver issue promptly corrected by Mint. Really, no problems at all since, fast and perfectly stable. Your girlfriend's computer should do fine. I can recommend installing LM 14.1 Cinammon 64 bit as far as all that goes. I don't know if there is any reason for concern with the particular graphics drivers.

The specs are :
Celeron dual core G550 2.6ghz (it's based on sandy bridge architecture, it's not extremely fast, but still a capable dual core I think)
VGA geforce 430 1GB ddr3 128 bit (again, not top spec, but it should be capable running any DE I think).
8GB ddr3 ram , which is plenty for normal desktop use.

[overthetop]

I am currently running Mint 14 with Cinnamon and have also ran Mint 13 with Mate, and while I like the Gnome 2 look of Mate, Cinnamon also looks great and has been very stable for me so far. My biggest problem with Mate is that it doesn't seem to be supported as well, for instance, some things meant for Gnome 2 need to be tweaked to work with Mate. You may also have a gtk3 theme problem with Mate.

Cinnamon, on the other hand, is getting more stable every day(not that it isn't stable now ), and I found that I really like the look! I think that you are right in the thought that Cinnamon will receive more development and better support than Mate. Cinnamon is based on Gnome 3 which is also under heavy development, but again, Cinnamon has been very stable for me in every way since installation.

If you are concerned about performance, I don't think you will notice a difference in the responsiveness of the two with the listed specs. Be aware that Mint will run faster when installed then when run from a live cd(and especially a live dvd).

[sonnet]

OK. Cinnamon and Mate are just desktops, they aren't distributions, so asking which is the most stable is not a really relevant question imho. You could ask the question which is the most stable - MInt Debian or Mint Main, that would be a valid question (though it may well create some arguments ) but not between desktops. For one thing you can VERY easily install both in which case your girlfriend can choose which one she prefers, and if you have an unlimited internet plan then you can easily download both versions of the dvd and compare them before you even start to think about installing and let her make her own mind up. The only question you can realistically ask about desktops is which do you prefer and that is so extremely subjective that you can only decide once you have used both varieties and made up your own mind.

I understand Cinnamon and Mate are only DE, still they can affect the overall stability of the distribution (not all the DE are equally stable, and the same DE might be more unstable on particular distros for some reasons , like KDE for instance is deemed to be more unstable on Ubutnu-based distros rather than on Opensuse ).
Moreover one flavor might get more care and testing than another one (as far as I understand Cinnamon is developed by the same developers of Mint, so it might get more attention for instance), although it might not be the case with Mate/Cinnamon. That's why I'm asking.

My girlfriend ,unlike me, loves eyecandy but more than that it's important that the system is stable and responsive as much as Windows 7 (with no shitty programs installed and some tweak, it has good responsiveness and proved to be quite reliable and stable) so that she wouldn't regret it.

@Adelante: thanks for sharing your experience, you have almost the same cpu, and I assume you're using intel integrated vga, so my system should offer even better performance in reason of the dedicated nvidia vga (drivers should be fine I think).

@Thanks bigj231 for sharing your experience: as you never had a single crash I think I might follow your route and install the 13 ( I wished they'd make a 13.1 with all updates included..) and then update from there.

@overthetop: thanks, your concerns for Mate are the same I have. At this point I'm quite convinced to go with Cinnamon, as it seems many users do not have any problem of stability.

[Hawkeye_52]

As per title, I'm looking to install Mint 14 64 bit on the desktop of my girlfriend.
The specs are :
Celeron dual core G550 2.6ghz (it's based on sandy bridge architecture, it's not extremely fast, but still a capable dual core I think)
VGA geforce 430 1GB ddr3 128 bit (again, not top spec, but it should be capable running any DE I think).
8GB ddr3 ram , which is plenty for normal desktop use.

I'd be inclined to install Mate version, as i heard that it's more responsive (I never tried Mate though). But on the other side, I'm under the impression that the Cinnamon version might receive more development and thus support.
Main issue on the choice is the stability, which is something I can't easily figure it out by loading the 2 live images.
So I'd like to receive advice from the users who are already using at least one of the 2 versions.

IMHO, both are stable DE's in Linux Mint. Cinnamon has a newer, fresher look to me than Mate from the get-go. Mate, however, can be 'tricked out' quite a bit using all the old GTK2 themes and icons that are available.

Forced to a choice -- go with Cinnamon. You may want to take a look at this:

http://www.howtoforge.com/the-perfect-d ... t-14-nadia

It gives a sweet, paint-by-the-numbers set of installation instructions, and a finished product that should satisfy any Windows refugee looking for shelter from Windows 8 ...

Hope this helps,

Hawkeye52

[bigj231]

One advantage to installing Mint 13 is that it will continue to receive security updates for a few years. I honestly have never kept a distribution for more than a year though. The main reason I haven't upgraded (to 14) is that I have exams and papers due in the next week. I can't afford to spend the time working on and setting up the new install.
The suggestions of installing both DE's are good ones. I was running 4 different DE's on my last install. Mostly because I couldn't stand Unity, had stability issues with Cinnamon (i think it was 1.2 at the time), and wasn't Kompletely Komfortable with KDE and all its appliKations.

[sonnet]

I installed Mint 14 Cinnamon, and I have to say I've been positively surprised.
No crash, and quite responsive.

[3fRI]

I installed LM 14 on the laptop today and it's been stable so far, but booting is noticeably slower than LM 13 Xfce. On the other hand, it's very responsive once you're in. Last night, I experienced a glitch/bug with all my browsers and with Thunderbird. In each case, the (-), (+), and (x) functions in the upper right-hand corner disappeared, which forced me to use key commands or a forced exit to close. Since the laptop is my test PC when doing hard-drive installs, I figured I give LM 14 Cinnamon a run.

[overthetop]

I installed Mint 14 Cinnamon, and I have to say I've been positively surprised.
No crash, and quite responsive.

Glad to here, hope it continues to work for you!

[The Dark Side]

Although increasingly Cinnamon is more stable (and in this version is more stable than ever), still I'm still staying with Mate desktop.-

[justy39]

I think mate and cinnamon are pretty even when comes to being stable. The only reason I keep mate is because it has my weather icon in the clock. Otherwise, I would probably use cinnamon also.

[podagee]

im running the mate edition with cinnamon,gnome3,gnome classic,unity,and cairo-dock as desktop options and they're all stable.the only bug which is minor that i found was in cairo-dock,compiz,3d windows are buggy.other than that it is very stable.

[rogerskibicki]

I have been using Mate in Mint 12 with no issues, i am looking at updating to Mint 14 Cinnamon.

All these are responsive but do they all play nice with other software applications ??
I think that is what is being asked and to some degree answered above.

[RacerBG]

If this is not a problem can I ask which is better for my laptop (Mate or Cinnamon): 3GB RAM, 2.2GHz processor, Intel GMA 4500M video card. Im currently using Mate but for future I will see... Anyway Im very happy with it.

[cwwgateway]

If this is not a problem can I ask which is better for my laptop (Mate or Cinnamon): 3GB RAM, 2.2GHz processor, Intel GMA 4500M video card. Im currently using Mate but for future I will see... Anyway Im very happy with it.

I would use MATE on that machine; I don't know if the video card would handle Cinnamon well.

[rogerskibicki]

So a little while ago i have updated to LM 14 Cinnamon 64 bit,, with updated the codecs

I have had issues with video streaming freezing up firefox and the odd application freezing up as well.
I am just going to swap over to LM14 Mate for now, from what i read the LM12 Mate i was using before was very solid indeed.
Tho Cinnamon looks nice, i may come back to it about ver 16.

i have enjoyed reading this particular thread, thanks all.

---Machine Spec---
Processor : 4x Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q8400 @ 2.66GHz
Memory : 2050MB (598MB used)
Operating System : Linux Mint 14 Nadia

-Display-
Resolution : 1680x1050 pixels
OpenGL Renderer : Gallium 0.4 on NV96
VGA compatible controller : NVIDIA Corporation G96 [GeForce 9500 GT] (rev a1) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller]
---

[catilley1092]

Mint 14 Mate x64 edition is humming perfectly on my HP Pavilion MS214 AIO PC. Fortunately, unlike Mint 10, 11 & 12, there were no AMD/ATI hardware drivers offered that really messed up the ATI Radeon 3200 HD graphics. I couldn't ask for anymore out of an OS for this PC than what Mate 14 offers. Total perfection. Extremely stable. Beats Windows 8 Pro x64 hands down. For the first time in the 3 & a half years that I've owned that PC, I finally have a trouble free, enjoyable computing experience on it.

I stumbled across Mate because I also have two older computers (a T42 Thinkpad & Dimension 2400), they were running Mint 13 Xfce. But once I read that Mate 13 would run on non-PAE CPU's, I just had to see what they would do on those 10 year old computers. They're not quite as fast as with Xfce, however Mate 13 is a full fledged OS w/5 years of support & is running decently on both, those computers will ride out in style. BTW, Mint 13 Mate is the last full fledged OS that will install on those machines. I don't even know if Mint 14 Xfce will run on them.

I did consider trying Mint 14 Cinnamon on that HP, however Mate is running so well the way it is, I just don't want to mess anything up. However, I have another machine, a MSI FX603, with the Intel i5 480M, NVIDIA GeForce GT 425M (1GB) & 8GB (4 x2GB) of DDR3 (10700) RAM. It has a SSD + HDD setup, I may just try it out on that as my next project.

However, my sights are set on a new desktop, whether I buy or build. Whatever Windows OS comes with it will be backed up, recovery disks burned (for warranty purposes) & the latest Mint will be installed on it. Sometime between August & November, depending on how my budget runs. The computer will be running either a stout Intel i5 or i7 (4000 graphics) & a NVIDIA video card. Costco had one like I'd like to have, it's $400 off normal retail at $899 now, is $1,299 on Dell's site. 16GB DDR3 1600 (32GB max) RAM, i7 w/Intel 4000 graphics, NVIDIA 620 video card, 480W PSU, much more. No doubt in my mind that Mint would run beautifully on that PC. If the same model isn't available when I'm ready, another will be, just no Acer.

I don't want any AMD anything, as it's took this long to find a Mint OS that didn't require extra graphics drivers (I skipped 13 when it came out). Only after I read the reviews on Mint 14, one that stacked it against Windows 8, did I try it on the HP. The folks at Mint have put together a fantastic OS that no one who runs it can deny how good it is. And the way that MS is headed, there will certainly be defectors to Mint & other Linux OS's.

A solid vote for Mate here.

Cat

[jharris1993]

Greetings!

In the same vein as the others, I have both a "problem" and a question.

First of all, let me say that, IMHO, Ubuntu reached it's evolutionary peak with 8.n, and it's been all down hill since then. Also, IMHO, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS was the last usable version.

I wanted away from Ubuntu, but didn't know which way to go, until the magazine Linux Format crowned Mint-13 as their King of the Distributions in their annual Distribution Grudge Match - you can read about it, and also look at my review of Mint-14 here. (http://www.qatechtips.com/2012/11/a-lin ... k-at.html/ and here http://www.qatechtips.com/2013/03/all-h ... inux.html/).

One thing that really puzzles me, and annoys me, is that during the boot process for Mint Cinnamon, either 13 or 14, (64 bit, on a variety of hardware), during boot up it goes brain-dead. The screen blanks out and it even stops driving the video for an extended period of time. I know this because the "auto-power-save" alert pops up on the screen, indicating no video drive.

This is both puzzling and irritating as you don't know if the system has gone haywire, or if it's it still booting.

The reason I am asking this here, is because I want to know if it is a desktop issue, (Yea, Cinnamon is notorious for that.), or is it an issue I should raise on the "system" fora.

Likewise, since you folks seem to know much more about Mint than I do, perhaps you can suggest an alternate desktop if Cinnamon is actually the offender.

I don't really care if the entire boot up is done in less than 30 seconds or not, but going brain-dead during boot is not acceptable.

What say ye?

Jim