Mate vs. Cinnamon

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.
User avatar
ashtonford
Level 2
Level 2
Posts: 83
Joined: Thu Aug 11, 2011 2:55 pm

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by ashtonford »

The mint team dident make mate, they made cinnamon. But they were one of the first distros to use mate.

Hope that makes sense, :)
rustguard
Level 1
Level 1
Posts: 44
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:40 am

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by rustguard »

Cinnamon is dark grey Mate is light grey, unles you change the themes then it is the other way round?

Mate might be more stable at installation, I didnt notice a speed difference in mint 14, but mate is considered faster, cinnamon has more features
Kaboosh

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by Kaboosh »

homerscousin wrote:I don't understand why either would be prefered. Install KDE and experience the most sophisticated and configurable desktop Linux has to offer. It's flippin pretty.
Interesting. I don't feel like a fanboy simply because I never selected KDE, it was (and seemingly still is) the only usable DE, GNOME and it's related derivatives aren't. It's not a religious thing, it's not even like I don't give them a shot every year or so but I always end up feeling like I'm using some sort of "designed for small children" PC. I don't know...perhaps if I wasn't a Microsoft convert (I went from Windows 95 to KDE 2.x after trying both KDE and GNOME) this wouldn't be the case. Some introspection but even then KDE seemed to take the overall layout and best features of the Microsoft desktop experience without the downsides of constant crashing, virii, extortion fees, etc... (and if I'm honest I have to admit there were quite a few good Windows 95 features captured by KDE such as transferable/templatable home directories, "profiles" in MS-speak, while GNOME would choke if you copied one homedir to use by another user). GNOME seemed to continue in it's simplified (disempowering/limiting?) direction with a bent towards mandatory specialized management tools such as gconf and such (bringing back painful experiences with the worst part of the MS-Windows experience such as the registry which requires a working system to get your system working). KDE on the other hand kept on empowering users and being maintainable via underlying text files getting better and better surpassing Windows by KDE 3.x. The peak of the desktop experience seemed to be KDE 3.x with Beryl, simply astounding, and conversely has seemingly been all downhill with KDE 4.x with constant bugs, crashing, and features still missing like the adaptive quicklaunch and knewsticker. The latest in this "experience" has been the memory leak in kded4...I can't even count the number of lost hours of work. If this isn't fixed in Olivia, I'm very open to a new DE right now (maybe this is my cue to try LMDE about now...). I've also always appreciated Enlightenment and E17 is beautiful and powerful but either it is too obscure and complicated or I must've carved in some deep KDE ass-grooves over the years because I can't seem to put in the focus to learn it sufficiently.

Along a similar vein I've been away from Microsoft land since Windows XP (I skipped Vista and briefly tried out Win7) so now I've finally decided to try out Windows 8 and read up on the key features in Windows IT Pro magazine. Turns out I've been a Windows 8 "expert" for the last ~7 years because every function and design in it has been copied wholesale from Linux and Android - bar none LOL
InkKnife
Level 5
Level 5
Posts: 741
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2012 5:24 pm

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by InkKnife »

The only way to know which is best is to try them yourself. I tried all the major DEs and I ended up liking Cinnamon the most but MATE xfce, etc all have their advantages.
People should be happy that they like their desktop and shouldn't feel the need to argue others are bad to prove their choice is the best. Every DE is the best choice for someone. I am glad someone develops desktops for people who don't like the same things as I do.
i7 3770, 12GB of ram, 256GB SSD, 64GB SSD, 750GB HDD, 1TB HDD, Cinnamon.
intok

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by intok »

Mate all the way, theres just no beating the Gnome2 design and workflow.
TNFrank

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by TNFrank »

I've been running Mint 15 MATE for a while and I like it. I can find things and do anything that I need to do. Not really bothered looking at Cinnamon, maybe I should download it and make up a "Live" USB to give it a look but really, MATE works for me and I'm happy with it and isn't that what it's all about. :wink:
TNFrank

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by TNFrank »

Ok, I'm taking Cinnamon for a little Test Drive via Live USB and I have to say, it DOES look a little more polished. Has a newer look to it, more 3D as opposed to the 2D look of MATE but other then that they seem quite a bit alike. I don't know if it'd be worth changing from MATE to Cinnamon or not, guess it all depends on what kind of Feel you're looking for and if you want something that looks more "new" then MATE or not. All in all I think Mint MATE or Cinnamon would both be winners IMHO.

Ok, I'm back over to MATE. One thing that I didn't like with Cinnamon was the same "problem" I've had with Xfce, LXDE, KDE, ect., the clock is Military time and there's no simple check box to change it over. Yes, I know I can enter some gobblety goop and make it standard time but MATE is just so stupid simple to change from one to the other, why aren't they doing that with Cinnamon?
rhY

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by rhY »

MATE. MATE works flawlessly, everything just works, it's super fast, low memory footprint, Mint Menu, gorgeous, better than xfce, or any other DE I've tried. I've tried Cinnamon 4 or 5 times, and it fails every time in some odd or sometimes spectacular fashion, has odd issues, always confuses and confounds when I leave it running at Grandma's or Auntie's house, or.... Mate, I install, I walk away, I don't hear about it again for..... Well, until the hardware starts to fail probably.

I really do not understand the debate. At this point there's simply no comparison. Maybe in another couple of years Cinnamon will be more stable, reliable, have the mint menu (which is AWESOME).... But as of right now, it is SO FAR behind MATE I can't understand why anyone bothers with it.
User avatar
tdockery97
Level 14
Level 14
Posts: 5058
Joined: Sun Jan 10, 2010 8:54 am
Location: Mt. Angel, Oregon

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by tdockery97 »

While Cinnamon is pretty, and I haven't run into any stability problems with it, I have found that the propriety ATI drivers do not work well for me with the Cinnamon desktop. Those same drivers work much better for me with MATE, and help my laptop to run much cooler. For that reason I prefer to use MATE.
Mint Cinnamon 20.1
teatime

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by teatime »

I switched to Cinnamon from Gnome3 due to freezing problems of gnome shell and used Gnome2 for some time and therefore tested Mate. Looking back it was the right decision to go with Cinnamon as Gnome3 take some time and as I study I have not much time to fight with said freezing problems and my laptop has an Intel HD3000 GPU I do not depend on closed source drivers to use all hardware features.
User avatar
Hypersphere
Level 2
Level 2
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Dec 08, 2011 1:51 pm

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by Hypersphere »

Recently, I have been testing Mint 16 with MATE and Cinnamon. I have experienced more technical problems with Cinnamon than with MATE. I also prefer the customization options of MATE over those in Cinnamon. It does appear that Cinnamon is the favorite among Clem and the other Mint developers, but I hope that they will continue to keep MATE alive for those of us who appreciated the efficiency, speed, and stability of Gnome 2.
ben2talk

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by ben2talk »

snagglepuss wrote:What is the difference between Mate and Cinnamon?
I have them both running and I don't understand why one would be preferred over the other.
For a start, easygestures sucks with cinnamon and after wasting 3 hours twiddling I installed mate and had it set up nicely in under 1 hour.

Secondly, you can apply a full theme in Mate; cinnamon seems only to affect the panel and wallpaper!
ben2talk

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by ben2talk »

Condorman wrote:There is no versus. Only personal preference or technical requirements. They're all awesome.

There.
Funny - since I bought an HP desktop core2duo e4400 and started gnome in 2007 I found Nautilus started fresh, but often froze on right clicking folders with lots/dodgy content. Cinnamon reminded me of this, but launching Caja worked faster and cleaner. +5 points for Nemo appearance and slick interface +Caja for just Working.

Next issue was clicking launchers; in Cinnamon delayed (instant from terminal!!!)...... And sound - Cinnamon supports skip/previous media keys.

But now I opened synaptic, searched KWIN and installed...... Happiness ensues.
Super snappy mate with wobbly windows (no compiz) and super window management.

My vote is for a more basic approach, Mint wins.... But no Cinnamon desktop or Mate window manager!!

But both are useless at handling sound..... Only digital stereo v Windows full 5.1 or 7.1 out of the box

Try it, Kwin is the jewel to extract from KDE - it's smooth n fast and light on resources.
ben2talk

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon

Post by ben2talk »

homerscousin wrote:I don't understand why either would be prefered. Install KDE and experience the most sophisticated and configurable desktop Linux has to offer. It's flippin pretty.
Nah, just steal Kwin
rjrich wrote:Recently, I have been testing Mint 16 with MATE and Cinnamon. I have experienced more technical problems with Cinnamon than with MATE. I also prefer the customization options of MATE over those in Cinnamon. It does appear that Cinnamon is the favorite among Clem and the other Mint developers, but I hope that they will continue to keep MATE alive for those of us who appreciated the efficiency, speed, and stability of Gnome 2.
sure, try installing KWIN - Doesn't hurt Mate (not enabled, u must ALT+F2 kwin --replace to enable)... Lovely
KirbySmith

Re: Mate vs. Cinnamon vs. KDE vs. kwin

Post by KirbySmith »

The kwin jewel may be interesting to try, once MATE 17 is out. However, ben2talk, your comment above is a tad sparse with information. For example, Synaptic and Software Manager list a whole pile of kwin related files (when running Mint 14 Cinnamon). Is there a description somewhere that defines just what needs to be installed?

kirby
Locked

Return to “Chat about Linux Mint”