There have been some long-standing issues with LM at this point, particularly where certain kinds of glitchiness in theater mode on Facebook, and pretty harsh screen tearing are concerned. However, last week I bought an external 23" monitor for my MBP, and then I really started noticing some general hesitation when using it. Yes, I realize I have a meh Intel Graphics chipset, and I'm not expecting the world, but this really started to get to me, and I guess that became the straw that broke the camel's back.
Over the course of this last week, I have attempted to use, or gave a fair shot to, OpenSUSE, Debian, and finally Ubuntu Budgie. OpenSUSE was a total loss, but Debian and Ubuntu Budgie both installed and ran without problems. However, I still had issues of other kinds with each, and let's face it, Debian is pretty harsh to use anyhow, at least visually. But, Cinnamon on Debian has basically none of the issues (save for a bit of screen tearing) that it does with LinuxMint. So, I have spent the past several days with Ubuntu Budgie, and overall it was pretty decent, but I kept having wireless issues (see the thread referenced above).
So, today I re-installed LM, and was prepared to try and grin and bear it with the other performance issues, when I ran across information on installing Budgie on LM. I had to do some digging to find instructions that'd work with 18.2, but having done so, I now have Budgie installed, and all I can say is the performance difference is significant. In many respects, it feels as snappy as Cinnamon on Debian.
I have to admit to a bit of surprise that the source distro for Cinnamon doesn't yield as good a performance as Cinnamon on other distros, and some surprise that Budgie is that much better on LM.
Anyone interested in installing Budgie and giving it a shot, here's the correct current instructions for doing so:
1. Open a terminal and add the following PPA to your setup:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:budgie-remix/ppa2. Refresh apt-get's repository and software listings:
sudo apt-get update3. Install Budgie Desktop and the login screen, Budgie Welcome:
sudo apt-get install budgie-desktop budgie-welcomeYou can log out of your present session, and in the upper right corner of the user name / password box, click on the Cinnamon logo to reveal a pop-up menu with other desktop session options, pick Budgie, and then log in as you normally would.
Obviously, you're only getting the very basic installation of Budgie, so if you like what you see, you'll probably want to add in other Budgie components.