Mate Destroys Cinnamon (Performance) v19.3, v20

[lsc9x]

Dear Linux Mint Team,

Mate > Cinnamon. (That's the short version)

I just spent the last couple of days trying to dual boot my computer with Linux in case my Windows installation gets hosed (which it always does) and wanted to provide you with some feedback.

First off, I want to thank you guys for all your hard work! I've been using Linux Mint on and off for years now and I keep coming back because Mint just keeps getting better. The stability, speed and usability of Mint really make it a viable replacement for my Mac should it ever die, which it will, and of course if Windows gets hosed, I can boot into Linux and fix my computer from there.

Over the course of 3 days, I've had a chance to work with v19.3 Mate, v20 Cinnamon and v20 Mate all on exactly the same computer, and with exactly the same installation parameters. I'm running Linux Mint on an i7-6700k@ 4.2Ghz with 48GB of RAM and 3 SSD drives. There is no reason this computer should be slow.

I started off with v19.3 Mate (and loved it), then went to Cinnamon (ouch!) and then back to Mate. I don't need any bench marking tools to say which version is "better". The performance difference is so obvious that it doesn't even need bench marking. All Linux Mints are good (in my opinion), but on a high end computer like mine Mate utterly destroys Cinnamon in the performance department. (Sorry!) The difference in performance was so dramatic that I blew away a fully loaded system and went back to Mate because of it. It's "night and day" different.

The GOOD news is that so much of Linux Mint works right out of the box, I can't help but recommend Linux Mint. It installed automatically exactly where I wanted it (dual boot), and every single device on my system worked without any intervention except to use the proprietary Nvidia driver. The reason I love Linux Mint is because, for the most part, it just works. ZERO errors and things to "fix" later. I had to add one line to my fstab file to mount my data drive and that was it!

As a Super User (I have 5 computers...) there are only 3 things important to me, and in this order:

1) Stability
2) Speed
3) Usability

Unfortunately the bad news is that my experience with Cinnamon was less than stellar, and that's a real disappointment. I can only imagine all of the hundreds of hours (maybe thousands) it took to make Cinnamon, and it looks great but the performance hits make the computer almost unusable for me. Especially in Libreoffice! (There is another post about Libreoffice being broken in v20). I thought that after 6 years that the team might have made Cinnamon work better, but unfortunately that didn't happen and I was pretty disappointed because Cinnamon looks great and I really wanted to use it!

The reason I quit using Cinnamon about 6 years ago is the same reason I quit using it again: Speed and Stability! I have to have both in order to WORK. This isn't just a toy computer for me, it's my work computer and Linux needs to (fully) replace Windows or MacOS in a pinch. Linux can't replace Windows or Mac in terms of software compatibility or gaming, but it does most basic things very well: Hard disk management, data migration, remote access, VPN, and general office apps are what I use, and especially remote administration of other computers. I have Windows 7 and Windows 10 running in virtual machines for anything else I need out of Windows. Every other tool is available from the command line.

Final conclusion?

Mate has it! Cinnamon doesn't. (Thank you for putting out multiple versions!)

I really hope that the Mint Team stops adding features at some point and just concentrates on making Cinnamon work better. Especially faster! And more stable. I'm not a programmer, so I don't know if anything can be done, but the term I'm looking for here is "optimization".

I wish you guys all the best, and I am loving my Mate v20 installation! I haven't had a single issue with it. ZERO! (That's how you do it!)

If you guys can figure out a way to make Cinnamon run like Mate, you will literally have the best Linux distro for desktop, without exception. I really hope you guys can do it! I've waited 8 freaking years for Star Citizen, I supposed I can wait a few more year for a stable version of Cinnamon!

Peace!

- Louis

PS: Did I mention that Linux Mint v20 Mate is fantastic? It is. Thanks again! =)

[sarge816]

I prefer Xfce, but I generally agree with your analysis. I saw it most on old computers, where on a Core2 Duo Cinnamon had performance issues and on the same laptop Xfce ran like a top.

[lsc9x]

I prefer Xfce, but I generally agree with your analysis. I saw it most on old computers, where on a Core2 Duo Cinnamon had performance issues and on the same laptop Xfce ran like a top.

Thanks! =)

I almost went with Xfce for the performance, but split the middle with Mate. I like the way Mate handles the panel. Like a cross between Windows and Mac.

[cliffcoggin]

It's well known that Cinnamon requires more resources than Mint and that you need to have an appropriate computer to handle it. What's your question?

Correction: I wrote Mint instead of Mate.

[Mick-Cork]

I'm curious about this. 19.3 Cinnamon running on an i5 with 8gb ram and I don't notice any real performance issues. Boot-up 20 secs, shutdown 3-4 secs, and applications load and run fine. The only delays I see are due to the hardware, e.g some of the more complex mathematical functions in Darktable.

There is one issue with Nemo, displaying multiple thumbnails in a folder, but I think the update in LM20 is supposed to improve things a bit there. I may be wrong but I think I read somewhere those improvements will be back-ported, so hopefully a Nemo update pending at some point for 19.3

Anyway, which aspects of Cinnamon are you seeing as problematic. It's a genuine question and may help the devs (should any of them visit).
As a general observation, have to say I don't have any stability issues and that applies to the last 7 years of using Cinnamon. It may be down to simplified hardware (Dell Latitude with on board graphics etc) so I'm not discounting your experience, just, as I say, curious.

[MartyMint]

XFCE feels old.
KDE and Plasma feel like "a big box of spare parts".

MATE is the closest I can get to my all-time favourite DE...Gnome 2.

[Pjotr]

The performance difference is so obvious

This should take away most of the performance differences between the DE's:
https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... t.html#ID5
(item 5)

[Moem]

As a Super User (I have 5 computers...)

Ah, a definition of Super User that I wasn't yet familiar with. That's... well, super.
Anyway, my Cinnamon is stable as a rock, and everyone knows that it requires more resources than Mate does. News at eleven...

[Pepi]

Tried them all and I really don't see a lot of difference. My Cinnamon is just as fast as my XFCE

[NadeBoy]

For me Linux Mint 20 cinnamon works like a charm, even with first person shooter games.

I have an Intel core i5 Devils Canyon, and Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card so it works very well, 8GB of ram as well. I am so satisfied with Linux Mint 20 cinnamon