Which is the best Mint?

[jebbers]

I have Cinnamon, which I had installed by mistake, and what a mistake. This program is awful compared to windows 7 or the old Mint 12 or 13 that I was running before. It's incredibly slow and clunky. My guess is that some teenagers wanted to have all the "cool stuff' and just came up with this garbage.

The list of complaints that I have about this program is so long.

First, it is much, much slower to start than my other OS (Windows or Mint 12.) With the Classic version, I could switch to Mate or other versions at Log In.

The Quit button does not function at log in. If I decide that I don't want to run the program at log in, I then have to run it in order to quit it.

Once it is running, it's slow. It's slow to open programs and slow to run them and slow to close them.

The scrolling bars are too thin and they don't scroll correctly. If you place the cursor in the scrolling bar area and click, it does not scroll just down to the where you have placed the cursor, but way beyond that point and even to the end.

I can't download videos with the browsers like I could with Windows 7.

Mint 12 or 13 started up faster than this Cinnamon program and faster than Windows.

[rene]

Thank you very much. Was nothing on the telly. Let me just quickly get a bag of potato chips...

[deepakdeshp]

Cinnamon is the flagship Mint product and best. You should have decent hardware though.

[karlchen]

Rule of thumb:
If Cinnamon is too slow, your hardware is too weak and old.

The requirements are not that extreme though:
This old work horse ran Linux Mint 13 64-bit Cinnamon perfectly. And it still runs Linux Mint 19.3 64-bit Cinnamon perfectly. Linux Mint 19.3 64-bit Cinnamon on Medion Desktop

[jebbers]

How can it be the hardware? Windows 7 runs very quickly on the same hardware. The old Mint I had worked fine with the same hardware.

[carum carvi]

Mint 12 superior to Mint19? Let's get the facts straight and visit Mint12 installation webpage. Your praise to be able to choose for Mate during login was nothing to brag about. On the contrary. Read the exact and embarrassing reason WHY you were able to select Mate during login at Mint12;


Source:https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_lisa.php

MATE is at a really early stage of its development and isn't stable yet. It was included in this release (edited:MInt12) to gather more feedback and help it get the maturity it deserves.

If the MATE panel doesn't appear after you log in, switch to another theme. MATE has compatibility issues with Murrine-based themes under Ubuntu and Linux Mint.

You cannot run MATE from the live session. Once the system is installed you can try to run it by selecting "MATE" as your session at the login screen.

Your other complaint about Cinnamon being slow has got some truth in it. Cinnamon does use more cpu processing power compared to other LinuxMint distributions (Xfce, Mate) and some older machines might struggle functioning quickly and smoothly, with heavy duty programs like videos. Simply switch to Mate or Xfce then? Or any other Linux distribution. Or stay put using Windows. Nobody will force you to use the free and opensource Linux software...

[ajgringo619]

How can it be the hardware? Windows 7 runs very quickly on the same hardware. The old Mint I had worked fine with the same hardware.

Mint 12 was released in 2011, Windows 7 in 2009...and you expect no one to question the hardware???

[karlchen]

Hello, Jebbers.

How can it be the hardware? Windows 7 runs very quickly on the same hardware. The old Mint I had worked fine with the same hardware.

In case you really wish to find out why LM 19.3 Cinnamon runs too slowly on your hardware, although it runs perfectly fine and fast on mine (*), then you should start a support thread, asking so and provide your LM 19.3 Cinnamon system information. How this can be done, can be found here: How to post your Linux Mint System Information (inxi report).
Also provide some measurable figures, which support your claim that LM 19.3 Cinnamon is slow on your system.
E.g. the output of systemd-analyze, which will tell us something about your startup time.
As soon as we have got some technical details, it should be possible to identify what precisely slows down your system and to tell whether it can be cured.

Seriously, after all the years, from 2012 (LM 13 Cinnamon released) till 2020 (LM 19.3 Cinnamon), on sufficiently strong hardware LM 19.3 Cinnamon should run equally well as LM 13 Cinnamon did. On my desktop, LM 13 Cinnamon did; LM 18.1 Cinnamon did; LM 19.3 Cinnamon does.

Regards,
Karl
--
(*) have you really bothered to check out my system specs and age? Very likely not. It is a machine that came with Windows Vista pre-installed.

[ZakGordon]

Read 'How to get Help':

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=83444

[cliffcoggin]

The list of complaints that I have about this program is so long.

So I see. What I don't see is a question. Do you have one?

[smurphos]

With the Classic version, I could switch to Mate or other versions at Log In.

The Quit button does not function at log in. If I decide that I don't want to run the program at log in, I then have to run it in order to quit it.

The scrolling bars are too thin and they don't scroll correctly. If you place the cursor in the scrolling bar area and click, it does not scroll just down to the where you have placed the cursor, but way beyond that point and even to the end.

I'm suffering from deja-vu - I've given you the link with instructions to fix your issue with the touchpad and the login screens button at least 4 times now - viewtopic.php?p=1512113#p1512113

As for the scrollbar issues - you asked here and were given the solution - viewtopic.php?f=90&t=319528

[kc1di]

In stead of complaining do some research. This page talks about how to speed up Mint - It may be of help. https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... -mint.html

This page tells why you should be using XFCE on older equipment https://easylinuxtipsproject.blogspot.c ... -xfce.html
If you think Windows 7 works better for your machine who's keeping you from using that , Oh yes MS has discontinued support.
There are also any number of Distros built specifically for older machines. Cinnamon is not for everyone or every machine. It runs very well when matched with the right hardware. Good luck in your search and don't forget to give specifics about your hardware. complaining that it does not work will not really get you what you want, which should be a working machine that is capable of doing the work you need done.

[radiarion]

Hi,

I used to have a slow, 10+ rat old pc that ran Windows like a dog. Changed to mint and it runs cinnamon like a dream.

Spec :
Amd quad core 2.8
4gb ram
Gt570 graphics card
Couple of hard drives so nothing special, but mint was at least double the speed of Windows 7 and 10.

I now have :
Ryzen 5 2600x 6 core 4gb
16gb ram
Gtx1060
2x 250gb ssd
1x 1tb mechanical laptop drive

And it runs even smother. I do have windows on my 2nd drive and although it runs nice, mint is still easy faster and of course my favourite system, hardly ever use Windows now.

I hope you find the problem as mint is great and I think everyone should give it a good go. Best of luck.

Garry

[karlchen]

Hi, clifflogin.

The list of complaints that I have about this program is so long.

So I see. What I don't see is a question. Do you have one?

Let me try to answer your question. Yes, user jebbers has asked questions in the forum. Details to follow ...

In order to find out what "so long" means in numbers, a search was done forum threads, in which user "jebbers" posted.
16 different threads were retrieved by the forum search, 14 of which had been started by user jebbers.
One of the 14 threads, which jebbers had started is this one here, where we are now, leaving 13 threads, where really help on using Linux Mint was requested.
It is these 13, which we should be interested in, at least in those, which have not been marked [solved], yet.
5 of the 13 threads have been marked as [solved]. This means in 5 of 13 cases the reported problem has been solved or the question has been answered.
This leaves 8 open threads, where no satisfying answer has been found or no satisfying problem solution.

Anyway, below is a list of those 8 threads, which have not been marked as [solved], yet:

1. Cleanup tool for multiple files
2. Page Scrolling Problem
3. Cinnamon button not working
4. Changing to Mate
5. Search & Privacy - Linux or Windows?
6. Clock problem
7. How can I run chkdsk?
8. Linux Mint forum password change

Taking into consideration that items 1, 6, 7 and 8 on the list above are not specific to the desktop environment Cinnamon at all, the number of complaints about Cinnamon does not seem to be as long as initially stated.

In order to find out why the open items have not been marked [solved] yet, it is necessary to go through each of the 8 threads thoroughly.
I dare say, however, that in the majority of cases the solution is not pending due to technical reasons or software flaws.
Rather the root cause is a failure of communication: technical English vs. non-technical English, technical perspective vs. non-technical perspective. And nobody around to translate appropriately.

Karl

[Portreve]

Thank you very much. Was nothing on the telly. Let me just quickly get a bag of potato chips...

...and a mug of beer.

[ZakGordon]

Linux Mint is 100% FREE (as in free beer).
The help and support all over this forum is also 100% FREE.

Is Linux Mint perfect for all and every occasion? No, but then i have not found a single OS that was/is.

At-least with Mint you are not going to get 'mugged' by the OS just from using it (compare to Windows 10). If that is not good enough for any user, then i don't think you should be using computers unless you are able to 100% make your own OS from the ground up and 100% provide your own support.

I get it, people like to complain. Still Mint is 100% FREE, and for my uses of it more than equal best OS from my history of OS use, it is certainly 'good enough' to stay as my daily driver for internet usage, and did i mention it is FREE?!

[trytip]

the best mint is the one i'm currently using

[Jormungandr89]

I'm not sure this is worth the arguments on matter of principle and Cinnamon vs other DEs vs hardware capabilities et al

The original poster is likely trolling or attempting to start an argument since, as the most default option, Mint ships with Cinnamon. I'm not sure of the stats, personally, but since it is the most default option it's probably the most widely used here.

Linux is about freedom and about freedom of choice. If you don't care for Cinnamon (or any DE for that matter), Mint is available in many flavors itself. Other DEs can be installed and Cinnamon removed (arguably a worse route than just grabbing the DE you want in the first place; possible nonetheless).

Other distros with different ethos and approaches are available too. If somebody is upset that the OP does not prefer Mint's paradigm and is better off with another distro installed, they're missing the point of Linux as well.

I do take a bit of (internet) offense to the "Cinnamon is childish" commentary though. People like adding themes to their OS. We're about two decades and some change past the "DEs and X server are nothing but bloat" forum argument. Though it would be nostalgic to bring that one back, I'll admit

[MurphCID]

Whichever feels better to you. Short answer.

[bob466]

I have Cinnamon, which I had installed by mistake, and what a mistake. This program is awful compared to windows 7 or the old Mint 12 or 13 that I was running before. It's incredibly slow and clunky. My guess is that some teenagers wanted to have all the "cool stuff' and just came up with this garbage.

The list of complaints that I have about this program is so long.

If you installed Cinnamon by mistake...that says it all.