Linux Mint: Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce or LMDE - what's the difference? Which edition to choose?

[beng]

This is a thread to discuss the following questions:
Which edition of Linux Mint to choose? Cinnamon, Mate, Xfce, LMDE?
What is the difference between the different editions of Linux Mint?

On the Download page, Linux Mint describes the different editions thus:

Sleek, modern, innovative
Cinnamon Edition
The most popular version of Linux Mint is the Cinnamon edition. Cinnamon is primarily developed for and by Linux Mint. It is slick, beautiful, and full of new features.

Light, simple, efficient
Xfce Edition
Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment. It doesn’t support as many features as Cinnamon but it’s lighter on resource usage.

Classic, traditional
MATE Edition
MATE is a classic desktop environment. It is the continuation of GNOME 2, which was Linux Mint’s default desktop between 2006 and 2011.

For my personal use case, I prefer the Xfce edition. This is because one reason I switched from Windows to Linux was to have an operating system that uses less system resources, so that my computer runs the programmes that I actually want to run faster. After all, I bought the computer to run those programmes, not to run the operating system. Between the 3 editions of Linux Mint, the Xfce one uses the least system resources.

Here is a comparison of RAM usage when the OS is installed on my laptop:

Windows 10 - 3.7 GB as reported by Windows Task Manager
Linux Mint 22 Cinnamon edition - 1.1 GB as reported by htop
Linux Mint 22 Xfce edition - 840 MB as reported by htop

I did not test the MATE edition of Linux Mint 22 but it should be slightly more than Xfce but less than Cinnamon.

I did run the MATE edition of Linux Mint 21 in the past but found it buggy - the start menu icons disappeared or did not work properly. Also the general look of the MATE interface is not more traditional than either Xfce or Cinnamon. They all look very similar, like Windows 95/7/10, and are easy for people coming from Windows to get used to. Xfce uses slightly less system resources than MATE, is more stable, and is more customisable, so between Xfce and MATE, I find Xfce better.

Comparing Xfce to Cinnamon, the description that "It doesn’t support as many features as Cinnamon" does not matter to me as I have not found any OS features that I want or use to be missing in Xfce. Whatever extra features Cinnamon has, that Xfce does not, are not ones that I need (like fractional scaling which I never use).

So for me, I prefer Xfce as it does everything I want, and uses the lest system resources. I use Linux Mint 22 Xfce edition as my daily driver, but also have Windows 10, Bodhi Linux, and MX Linux installed in other partitons and occasionally run them.

As for Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE), I prefer the Ubuntu editions as many third party software packages for Windows (eg. games, VPN clients, camera apps) have an Ubuntu version as their Linux version, which may be installed via deb or PPA or be a system package in the Ubuntu repositories. As Ubuntu moves towards using snaps, this may change, but for now, because of the greater software availability for Ubuntu, I prefer Ubuntu based distros over Debian ones. If I wanted a Debian-based distro, I would probably run MX Linux as I like the tool set it has and well as it's option of not running systemd.

Please share your own thoughts and opinions below: Those who prefer Cinnamon, why do you prefer it? Those who prefer MATE, why do you prefer it?

[Midnight True]

Unfortunately my opinion is just for Xfce ... i have not tried the other flavours. For me its just love at first sight or love at first use hahahaha

Moreover Xfce is so modular ... currently i am using i3 as my window manager (from Xfwm4), picom as compositor (from Xfwm4 + Compton) polybar as panel (from xfce4-panel) and dunst for notification (from xfce4-notifyd)
To my knowledge Xfce is far more modular compared to other flavours.

However at the end of the day it will depend on your workflow, choose the Desktop Environment that suits well to your workflow

Regarding LMDE, i wish to switch to it however there is no xfce flavor yet
After upgrading to LM 22, i just found out that full ubuntu is bad ... a lot of bugs like this AppArmor command `sudo aa-enforce /etc/apparmor.d/*` results to: `TypeError: 'NoneType' after upgrade to LM 22

[gflash]

Cinnamon.

It was the default choice, and I instantly fell in love with it.

Also I don't care about a few 100 megs of RAM.

[stevengarland]

With a Google search you can find a easy comparison of Linux systems

[all41]

Try them all if possible.

Relatives were asking pretty much these same questions after finally deciding to give Linux a go.
We put all 4 of the Mints on an separate 120gb ssd to not disturb the win. It's still a dilemma because
he took to MATE but she likes Cinnamon, so they're planning a dedicated dual-boot Mint desktop
PC with both installed--bully for them.

Seriously--it's about the only way to really address your questions and concerns.
You wouldn't choose among perspective new cars without a personal test drive in each--right?
no matter what friends recommend--right?

There will be diehard fans touting their favorite desktop here. Several use more than one.
I find something to like in each.
They're equally powerful so it comes down to creature features, most differences are in
file manager operations.

[Petermint]

"There is no try"
I tested them all, including LXDE, a few years ago when I had a 4 GB slow notebook. Cinnamon was the only one that booted the way I wanted. Cinnamon was the only one with no problems configuring menus and stuff. I run Cinnamon with effects off, because some of the effects annoy me, and it made a difference in my old machine.

I now use LXDE as it is in the Raspberry Pi OS and is optimised for that range of devices and works well. I install some programs that are in Linux Mint but not in Pi OS.

Xfce and MATE have probably improved. I now have 16 GB so 0.1 GB of memory usage is meaningless. Latency in screen interactions is more important to me. I find Cinnamon with effects off is exactly the same as MATE. Xfce was a slight improvement in speed, almost visible, on the old notebook but not on the current notebook or on my 15 year old desktop.

LXDE was in Ubuntu and some other distributions. I found a distribution similar to Linux Mint with LXDE installed and it was super fast but there were support problems and a really weird selection of included software. No help forums for that OS so I deleted it.

About 98.465724% of the time, I am using applications, not the OS GUI, and there is no noticeable difference inside applications across the GUI options. I would be happy with LXDE if it was optimised and maintained to the level of LXDE in the Pi OS.

The Pi models 4 and 5 are available up to 8 GB of memory. The Pi 5 has a decent GPU. For the Pi 5 8 GB, I think all the GUI options would work. The Pi 5 with 4 GB is close to the speed of my old, now deceased, notebook and that is about the level where GUI differences show up with normal daily use, browsing the Web, reading email, and running DOOM.

[spamegg]

On your Linux journey, eventually you'll reach a point where you realize that the desktop environment really doesn't matter. They're all the same

[all41]

On your Linux journey, eventually you'll reach a point where you realize that the desktop environment really doesn't matter. They're all the same

yep. and you can only learn that by using others.

[Schultz]

There are differences. When I came to Linux over 10 years ago I tried Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce. There was a concrete reason I chose not to use Xfce, and went with Mate. (Xfce fixed the issue a few years back, but I've been on Mate all this time so I'm not switching to anything else just yet.)

[all41]

There are differences. When I came to Linux over 10 years ago I tried Cinnamon, MATE, Xfce. There was a concrete reason I chose not to use Xfce, and went with Mate. (Xfce fixed the issue a few years back, but I've been on Mate all this time so I'm not switching to anything else just yet.)

Tell about the concrete reason @Schultz

[Schultz]

Tell about the concrete reason @Schultz

Now remember, this was over 10 years ago. This was my deal-breaker with Xfce back then. I prefer my folders to be in "Compact" view, except any folders that contain videos and/or images. In those I use "Icon" view, so I can see the thumbnails to more easily identify the file. Xfce's folder settings were global; you could not set different view options on different folders. Xfce fixed this issue a few years back to where you can now have different folder view settings on individual folders.

[Professor_Slughorn]

I use Mate as my daily driver. One of the features I really like about Mate is that if you open up multiple programs they are listed in the panel at the bottom of the screen. Here is an example of what my panel looks like now.

Weather Inbox-... Linux Mint Forums Checkbook.ods Budget.ods Document.odt

Here are the apps:
Weather app, Thunderbird, Firefox, two LibreOffice Calc spreadsheets and one Writer Document

If I had two Firefox windows open it would show the name of the current tab for each window.

With Cinnamon/LibreOffice Calc you end up with a Green icon on the panel with a number indicating how many files you have open. To select a file you would need to hover over the icon, then move to the file and click on it. I find using Mate just a little easier (single click and no hovering). This is also true with XFCE.

I also have trouble remembering which icon belongs to which program. (Getting old) Having the name of the app or file on the panel really helps.

With a 4k monitor there is room for at least a dozen open app names. If you have a 1080P monitor or a laptop with a lower screen resolution you may find icons work better.

Does anyone know if you can display app/file names in Cinnamon on the panel?

Another difference between Cinnamon and both Mate and XFCE is that the Cinnamon desktop is updated more frequently (about every 6 months?). Mate is updated about every two years. The latest Mint version 22 is still using Mate 1.26.x which came out on 8/10/2021. Mate was updated to 1.28 on 2/27/2024. The Mint Team did not include the update. I actually like the slower rate of updates with Mate and XFCE.

Another nice feature of both Mate and XFCE is that they provide a description of what the program does when you open the menu. In Cinnamon, Redshift is just called Redshift. In Mate it will say Redshift - Color temperature adjustment tool. This can be helpful when you are looking for an app that you may never have used.

Hope this helps.

[smurphos]

Another nice feature of both Mate and XFCE is that they provide a description of what the program does when you open the menu. In Cinnamon, Redshift is just called Redshift. In Mate it will say Redshift - Color temperature adjustment tool.

Err - Cinnamon does that as-well. Always has done. It's a tooltip on the stock menu.

Does anyone know if you can display app/file names in Cinnamon on the panel?

Yes, its a setting on the grouped window list, or you can swap that out for a traditional windows list applet should you wish.

I think what you are saying is you prefer MATE's defaults to Cinnamon's. All of the desktops are customisable, Mint's default layouts are very 1990's and it's the first thing I change quite dramatically on any install. In terms of ability and ease of customisation iMHO, MATE is the lame duck, XFCE and Cinnamon are both easy and fulfilling to tweak and modify to your liking.

[Petermint]

Ungrouping in Cinnamon is the one change I make to the toolbar structure. Removing the desktop image and switching off effects are the two I make to remove distractions. What I have not yet worked out is how to teach Cinnamon to make a perfect double shot latte. I might have to wait for the AI edition.

[Professor_Slughorn]

Err - Cinnamon does that as-well. Always has done. It's a tooltip on the stock menu.

Yes, its a setting on the grouped window list, or you can swap that out for a traditional windows list applet should you wish.

I think what you are saying is you prefer MATE's defaults to Cinnamon's. All of the desktops are customisable, Mint's default layouts are very 1990's and it's the first thing I change quite dramatically on any install. In terms of ability and ease of customisation iMHO, MATE is the lame duck, XFCE and Cinnamon are both easy and fulfilling to tweak and modify to your liking.

Thanks. The information is very useful. You gave me a reason to try Mint 22 Cinnamon on my laptop.

Been using Mate for about 12 years. Back then my PC was not very powerful. Used Mate because I thought Cinnamon would not run very well (based on a number of reviews at the time). My current PC runs at warp speed. Cinnamon should run just fine.

Cinnamon is clearly the favorite desktop for Mint. Is it possible that the Mint team would drop Mate if Ubuntu does not produce a Mate version? Somewhere I read that Ubuntu almost did not develop a Mate version for Ubuntu 24.04. It was very last minute and they did not include the newest version of Mate (1.28.x).

I also wonder if Mate will become a lame duck. It is the reason I have a couple PCs using Xfce.

[MikeNovember]

Hi,

I use Mate; it is just a question of taste, I prefer simple desktops with no bells and whistles (on my Windows 10 Pro guest, I disabled "things" until I got a very simple start menu).

Going back to Mate, the fact it does not change a lot between Linux Mint versions helped me when I installed LM 21.3:
- I have three partitions "/", "/home" and swap;
- I installed LM 21.3 on "/" while keeping intact "/home";
- and I finally completed installation by adding applications.
--> It is a kind of fresh update, concerning the system, while I kept my desktop settings unchanged.

One on the changes I do with Mate is to replace "menulibre" by "mozo" since "menulibre" creates multiple entries of the same program in the menu.

Regards,

MN

[Professor_Slughorn]

My experiment using Mint 22 with Cinnamon ended quickly with an error message (Failed to set MokListRT: out of Resources….) and the laptop shutting down. Turning off Secure Boot in the BIOS allowed me to get past the shutdown. Mint 21.3 with Xfce is back on the laptop. My experiment with Cinnamon has ended for now.

Mate works for me, the plan is to keep using it. Xfce will be the backup should Mate get dropped.

I also plan to wait until Mint 22.3 is released before I upgrade any of my computers. Let Ubuntu and the Mint team sort out some issues. See the Monthly News – August 2024 by Clem. https://blog.linuxmint.com/

Cheers

[featherlessbiped]

Cinnamon:
* Newest
* Has the most new-fangled features from the era where everyone wanted to make mobile+desktop UIs
* Most of the applications included with it seem to have fewer features (or features where the menus are hidden in weird places) as per the mobile UI "standards" everyone seemed to follow
* Requires about an extra 500 MB to 1.5 GB of RAM compared to Xfce
* It's forked from Gnome code rather than being its own thing so it seems to have some jank from that
* Perfectly usable
* Possibly the prettiest?

Mate:
* Older than Xfce by 2 years.
* Most configurable
* Has the most themes and other options as IIRC it's compatible with the old Gnome 2 themes
* Most of the applications are the old Gnome 2 versions IIRC, which is nice because the menus are logical and it's easy to figure out where everything is by using common sense or logically searching
* Requires an extra 500 MB or so of RAM compares to Xfce
* Forked from Gnome 2 code and it seems that it's getting somewhat jankier with age... when last I used it, after an update right-clicking would not do transparency correctly and a white box would appear where the transparent portions of the right click context menu should be. That said I should have reported it rather than getting used to the jank so it could be fixed.
* Perfectly usable

Xfce
* Oldest
* Not quite as configurable as Mate
* The configuration options are in different places and UIs, which requires a bit of exploration to figure out but you can access all of these options with a mouse
* Is its own thing, so other than it also using the GTK and Gnome Foundation's neglect of that leading to a lack of features compared to LXQT or KDE (this is an issue for Cinnamon, Mate, and Xfce) it generally has fewer issues and less jank than Cinnamon and Mate because the maintainers aren't overworked and fighting against the Gnome Foundation's decisions on Gnome 2 and 3. Instead they just fight against the Gnome Foundations decisions on GTK.
* Requires the least RAM of the 3 DEs listed here
* Perfectly usable.

Right now I run Xfce and of the 3 I like it the most. It just works. I just wish I could adjust the image preview size when uploading an image to a site on the internet.

[Petermint]

extra 500 MB to 1.5 GB of RAM compared to Xfce

Comparing recently, about LM 21, 0.5 GB yes, 1.5 GB no.

[featherlessbiped]

extra 500 MB to 1.5 GB of RAM compared to Xfce

Comparing recently, about LM 21, 0.5 GB yes, 1.5 GB no.

I haven't used Cinnamon much in the past 4 years, glad they improved it.