Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Chat about anything related to Linux Mint
Forum rules
Do not post support questions here. Before you post read the forum rules. Topics in this forum are automatically closed 6 months after creation.
Locked
TBABill
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 1355
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:02 pm
Location: Leonardtown, MD

Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by TBABill »

Hello all! It's been quite a while since I've participated on the forum, mostly since I bought 3 Macbooks and a Chromebook. My desktop was running Ubuntu 10.04 and once support was nearing end of life I knew I had to have Mint 13 since it's an LTS and Cinnamon is awesome.

I had tried to install Windows 8 on my HP Touchsmart IQ804, but it simply won't run it. The video driver was modified by HP for Vista and they do not have a Windows 8 driver (and never will I hear). I was trying to use Windows 8 to return to school and use MS Office per their requirements, but it failed. So, I grabbed a quick download of Mint 13 and in 20 minutes it was installed, updated and my apps installed. Just like all prior versions I have used, the desktop is snappy, the display is brilliant (clear/sharp) and everything loads and runs great. I have not one complaint about the OS and it was a breeze to install (well, except having to edit a config file to get sound working but that's a requirement in any Linux distro on that machine).

Anyway, glad to be back and happy to have an OS that just works on my hardware. I love being able to say Linux Mint "just works" and Windows 8 "just won't"! For years it was the other way around.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
anandrkris

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by anandrkris »

Glad you're liking it. Hoping Mint wins more hearts like this. :)
Just curious, since you mentioned abt MS Office - Presuming that you use in Libreoffice, are you able to get equivalent productivity / features ?
TBABill
Level 6
Level 6
Posts: 1355
Joined: Wed Dec 30, 2009 1:02 pm
Location: Leonardtown, MD

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by TBABill »

I don't do much intensive office suite application work on that machine. But I have found that I can do anything I need to in LibreOffice as easily as MS Office. I'm just so done with Windows. We're mostly an OS X household now because the kids needed solid machines for college and my wife's laptop died (junk Dell laptops!). I have a Chromebook C7 Acer (works ok for most things) but really want another Macbook Pro instead. For desktops I prefer to run Linux Mint, occasionally Ubuntu but Unity still hasn't grown on me. I just like Mint's finishing touches.

Anyway, for my needs (business spreadsheets without macros or pivot tables) I can do anything I need to do in LibreOffice so it's as good (and free!) as MS Office for all my needs.
anandrkris

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by anandrkris »

yes, even for me libreoffice is a viable office solution for home computing needs. BTW, pivot tables pretty much works in libreoffice as well.
sloan
Level 2
Level 2
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 7:52 pm
Location: US

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by sloan »

Sweet is an understatement. I've been running with Mint 14 for awhile and am giving up on it today. Enough of the random problems that just keep creeping up.
Going back to LM13 tonight. Not only sweet...but flawless :D

Oh, and Windows 8 aint' the only thing that just won't...My usb 3.0 ports would not work right under Windows 7 no matter what I tried, but under Mint...they just work!!!
This is my Linux distro. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Image
User avatar
Reorx
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4044
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 7:14 pm
Location: SE Florida, USA

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by Reorx »

I have to agree - I am a big fan of the LTS versions of Mint... My first Mint experience was with Mint 7 (Gloria) - I was running it on a net book as a testbed. I only ran it occasionally and was running my life on Win XP... and time passed... and once I got comfortable with Mint I converted to Mint only environments for my home and office computers... At that time (June 2011) I ran Mint 9 (Isadora) LTS... I loved it so much that I saw no reason to run anything other than LTS editions - I find they are very stable and works great for everything I do... Today I run LM13C64 on both my home and office laptops. I only have one application in my life that I would like to run under Mint that I have not been able to get to work correctly under Wine or Crossover... I'm still working on that solution...

In terms of the knock on Dell machines - I have to disagree (to some degree)... Dell sells laptops with Linux (Ubuntu) pre-installed. They typically are low powered (for Windows) machines but run Mint just fine thank you very much... and they cost somewhere between $300 and $400 direct from Dell!!! I have purchased several of these machines and have good luck with them so far. My home and office laptops are both Dell machines that originally came with Ubuntu on them... This is how I tried Ubuntu (once)... Didn't like it - wiped the HD (used Gparted to remove all the partitions) and did a clean Mint install... both machines were up and running (installed and updated) in less than 1 hour... Some minor tweeking took another 1/2 hour or so and I was off and running...

I also found out how easy it is to move your personal "stuff" from one Mint machine to another. FIrst you copy and paste all of your (normally visible) home folder to an external device USB stick or ext HD depending on size needs... Then just copy and paste it into the new machine. Next I copy the profiles from Firefox and Thunderbird from the source machine and replace the profiles on the target machine - it's a simple copy and paste source to ext and then ext to target. The target machine initially has 2 profiles (don't overwrite the existing profile). I then rename the target machine's original profile to "profile-old" and rename the copied profile to the name of the original profile - DONE. You must make sure that you do this copying when the software in question is not running. When you restart the software (Firefox or Thunderbird) on the new machine EVERYTHING is there!!! Every saved piece of e-mail with attachments, every address book entry, every bookmark, every saved password, etc... You can even copy the profile from the latest portable versions of these software packages (used to run under Windows) to a fresh Mint install in this fashion and they seem to work flawlessly - I just did it for my wife on her home laptop!

Mint on!!! :D
Full time Linux Mint user since 2011 - Currently running LM21C on multiple Dell laptops - mostly Vostro models.

Image Image Image
sloan
Level 2
Level 2
Posts: 58
Joined: Fri Jun 10, 2011 7:52 pm
Location: US

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by sloan »

Let's just say some linux experiences with Dell are good while others are not.

I have an Alienware X51 that is very unstable in linux while connected by DVI (no issues with DVI under Windows). And this was tested and confirmed with LM13, LM14, and Ubuntu 13.04. But since it's fine while connected by HDMI I'm not really complaining.

Now compare that experience to my last Dell computer before this one, an Inspiron that I've tried multiple linux distros on and never had a single problem.

So, it really all depends on the exact hardware in question. Not all Dells are good or bad.
This is my Linux distro. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Image
User avatar
Reorx
Level 12
Level 12
Posts: 4044
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 7:14 pm
Location: SE Florida, USA

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by Reorx »

The one thing that I have learned over the few years that I have been running Mint is that the more "generic" and non-cutting-edge the hardware is, the better it runs Mint... the more porprietary (read NVIDIA) and/or cutting edge the hardware is - the more likely it is to not run Mint at all or at best, run it badly...

...and Mint runs pretty nicely on modest (by Windows standards) hardware - my home laptop runs OK with a single core and 1 GB of ram. My office laptop runs well with 2 cores and 2GB of ram. Both systems have boring on the MB Intel video.

This is why I like vanilla Vostro laptops for running Mint! :D
Full time Linux Mint user since 2011 - Currently running LM21C on multiple Dell laptops - mostly Vostro models.

Image Image Image
rwm

Re: Mint 13 Cinnamon is Sweet

Post by rwm »

Hey, TBABill, thanks for your comments about IQ804 conversion to Mint.

I inherited an IQ804 from my son and never got around to converting to Win7. Now, I can't seem to get any Microsoft upgrade.

I enjoyed working on a Linux server while in grad school, so I'm thinking about going the Linux route for my IQ804 when Microsoft drops Visa support.

Have you continued to keep your IQ804 running on Mint? Any words of wisdom? Thanks!
Locked

Return to “Chat about Linux Mint”