Why people like Linux Mint so much? What LM users have to say about it?

[TaterChip]

And part of the issue with Windows is the every single "feature" update re-installs, re-enables the spyware....

That's very annoying and also the fact that with some Windows updates, they won't tell you what is being updated. This is partly why in Windows they tell you that you're the Administrator, you may think you are, but you aren't. Microsoft is. Whereas in Linux you really are the administrator. Of course, there's some responsibility involved there.

I realized I wasn't an actual administrator after XP. with each new version you had less and less control over your own machine.

[MurphCID]

That must have been just a major pain, and a lot of work since Microsoft hides stuff pretty well. I might consider that later on down the road. And no, you are NOT the administrator, Microsoft is.

[ivar]

For those interested, this Powershell debloat script does show pretty good how much crap Microsoft have put into windows. Over 1800 lines of code, to remove unwanted store apps, preinstalled crap like e.g McAfee, unwanted notfications etc etc.

I've ran it on 5-6 computers at work, and it seem to work fine so far
So IMO, you're still admin on your own win10 pc - but microsoft is making it more and more hard and complex to "keep clean" - And working hard at finding ever more ways to force ads/nagscreens and notifications upon its users

https://github.com/andrew-s-taylor/publ ... eBloat.ps1

[RabidPedagog]

I've ran it on 5-6 computers at work, and it seem to work fine so far
So IMO, you're still admin on your own win10 pc - but microsoft is making it more and more hard and complex to "keep clean" - And working hard at finding ever more ways to force ads/nagscreens and notifications upon its users

This is a fact and becomes clear when you're asked to fix someone else's computer. Some of us are very good about doing every one of our updates, running SFC and checking the image with DISM, but most people are not. When you're faced with someone else's machine, you see the reality of Windows: a system which slows, drags and corrupts for anyone who isn't a technical user. With Mint, people wouldn't have such issues even after a handful of years, but Windows becomes a mess within its first year of installation.

[Hoser Rob]

That must have been just a major pain, and a lot of work since Microsoft hides stuff pretty well. I might consider that later on down the road. And no, you are NOT the administrator, Microsoft is.

This hiding stuff has been going on for years. Some users may remember the kerfuffle when it came out that MS Internet Explorer was gathering user data and sending it to MS. So they took that code out of the browser but then they just put it in the OS itself. There are modules in Windows that MS won't even tell techs what's in them. And they figure that's where they put it. This isn't paranoia, I've been told that by IT support people.

[Hoser Rob]

And part of the issue with Windows is the every single "feature" update re-installs, re-enables the spyware.

That's why I went in and deleted every .exe associated with updates (there were multiple in the version of win10 I had). I spent a lot of time removing the spyware, and I didn't need them putting it back.

That is the BEST thing about being on mint. I don't have to worry about my OS spying on me.

I think for me it's more the lack of viruses in Linux. I didn't realize that until I got my current main new to me refurbished laptop, It had Windows 10 on it, and the thought of connecting it to a network just felt really yucky to me.

And the #^*^@(* adware. I don't mind needing an ad blocker in a browser. But a desktop environment?

[MurphCID]

I just watched what seems to be a pretty reliable video on Windows 12. Reported system requirements are 16gb of ram, and a subscription. You can get it without the subscription, but you get ads on your desktop. Wow. Just Wow. Looks like Windows 10 will most likely be the last windows I ever use. I am glad that with my move to the new house, I am getting the Thelio set up with Mint 21.3 so I can use it on my desk.

[mudassir]

I just watched what seems to be a pretty reliable video on Windows 12. Reported system requirements are 16gb of ram, and a subscription.

16gb sound great.. Can I use some old SSD to replace RAM

You can get it without the subscription, but you get ads on your desktop

Multimedia Desktop Experience That's what they call Media Center?

[TaterChip]

I just watched what seems to be a pretty reliable video on Windows 12. Reported system requirements are 16gb of ram, and a subscription. You can get it without the subscription, but you get ads on your desktop. Wow. Just Wow. Looks like Windows 10 will most likely be the last windows I ever use. I am glad that with my move to the new house, I am getting the Thelio set up with Mint 21.3 so I can use it on my desk.

can you link the video. I'm trying to get my wife to switch to linux

[MurphCID]

I just watched what seems to be a pretty reliable video on Windows 12. Reported system requirements are 16gb of ram, and a subscription. You can get it without the subscription, but you get ads on your desktop. Wow. Just Wow. Looks like Windows 10 will most likely be the last windows I ever use. I am glad that with my move to the new house, I am getting the Thelio set up with Mint 21.3 so I can use it on my desk.

can you link the video. I'm trying to get my wife to switch to linux

I am looking for it, but I cannot find it right at this moment, but I am going to keep looking for you. It came up on the television youtube not one of my laptops/desktops so I will keep looking. I think it was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJExFAc6wys

[Hoser Rob]

You can get it without the subscription, but you get ads on your desktop

Multimedia Desktop Experience That's what they call Media Center?

Jeez, the last Windows I used regularly was Windows 7 and I had forgotten about Media Center. What a God awful media app that is. Just useless, designed for users who lack the knowledge to install something decent like VLC or SM Player. At least that's the only people I know of who ever use it. The ones who used Internet Explorer.

[mudassir]

... The ones who used Internet Explorer.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

... The ones who used Internet Explorer.

While the earlier versions were worse than garbage, especially IE6, IE9 was far better and IE10 and IE11 were actually pretty good. Most people were blowing off the all the versions of IE after IE6 because of memories of how horrible IE6 was without even trying any of them. I thought IE10 and, especially IE11, had the best cookie handling of any browser I've used since.

Of course, since Win7 and IE11, leave it to Microsoft to take perfectly good programs, etc. and ruin them. Steve Ballmer was a bad joke but Satya Nadella is a nightmare. Either made Gates look like a choirboy.

[mudassir]

While the earlier versions were worse than garbage, especially IE6, IE9 was far better and IE10 and IE11 were actually pretty good. Most people were blowing off the all the versions of IE after IE6 because of memories of how horrible IE6 was without even trying any of them. I thought IE10 and, especially IE11, had the best cookie handling of any browser I've used since.

Have no idea... I always installed an anti-virus and a web browser (preferably Firefox) every time after first boot of Windows on any machine... removing IE from quick launch was always the first thing to do. Never liked chrome either.

Of course, since Win7 and IE11, leave it to Microsoft to take perfectly good programs, etc. and ruin them...

IMO, XP was the last good operating system from Microsoft... Win 7.. idk the word.. maybe somehow bearable to me. After that they ruined everything.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While the earlier versions were worse than garbage, especially IE6, IE9 was far better and IE10 and IE11 were actually pretty good. Most people were blowing off the all the versions of IE after IE6 because of memories of how horrible IE6 was without even trying any of them. I thought IE10 and, especially IE11, had the best cookie handling of any browser I've used since.

Have no idea... I always installed an anti-virus and a web browser (preferably Firefox) every time after first boot of Windows on any machine... removing IE from quick launch was always the first thing to do. Never liked chrome either.

Of course, since Win7 and IE11, leave it to Microsoft to take perfectly good programs, etc. and ruin them...

IMO, XP was the last good operating system from Microsoft... Win 7.. idk the word.. maybe somehow bearable to me. After that they ruined everything.

I feel Win 7 was the last good MS OS up to about the last three or four years before EOL when MS started putting out buggy updates and employed underhanded, sneaky tactics to try to trick users into downgrading to Win 8.x. I had to wait about a week to download and install updates to make sure I didn't get a buggy one for the first two of the last four years, then stopped updating altogether the last two years because it got so bad.

[Hoser Rob]

... The ones who used Internet Explorer.

While the earlier versions were worse than garbage, especially IE6, IE9 was far better and IE10 and IE11 were actually pretty good. Most people were blowing off the all the versions of IE after IE6 because of memories of how horrible IE6 was without even trying any of them. I thought IE10 and, especially IE11, had the best cookie handling of any browser I've used since.

Of course, since Win7 and IE11, leave it to Microsoft to take perfectly good programs, etc. and ruin them. Steve Ballmer was a bad joke but Satya Nadella is a nightmare. Either made Gates look like a choirboy.

The fatal flaw with Internet Explorer was that it wasn't really a standalone program. It was part of Windows Explorer, which practically by definition had to have the highest level permissions. And we Linuxers know that WIndows doesn't have proper permission levels anyway. So if you could hack IE, certainly not impossible, you could do whatever the hell you wanted in/to the OS.

IOW, features notwithstanding, Internet Explorer was inherently insecure. The very first things I would do with new WIndows was update the AV program and then open up IE long enough get a Firefox .exe and then install FF. And that'd be the last time I ever used IE on that machine.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

While the earlier versions were worse than garbage, especially IE6, IE9 was far better and IE10 and IE11 were actually pretty good. Most people were blowing off the all the versions of IE after IE6 because of memories of how horrible IE6 was without even trying any of them. I thought IE10 and, especially IE11, had the best cookie handling of any browser I've used since.

Of course, since Win7 and IE11, leave it to Microsoft to take perfectly good programs, etc. and ruin them. Steve Ballmer was a bad joke but Satya Nadella is a nightmare. Either made Gates look like a choirboy.

The fatal flaw with Internet Explorer was that it wasn't really a standalone program. It was part of Windows Explorer, which practically by definition had to have the highest level permissions. And we Linuxers know that WIndows doesn't have proper permission levels anyway. So if you could hack IE, certainly not impossible, you could do whatever the hell you wanted in/to the OS.

IOW, features notwithstanding, Internet Explorer was inherently insecure. The very first things I would do with new WIndows was update the AV program and then open up IE long enough get a Firefox .exe and then install FF. And that'd be the last time I ever used IE on that machine.

IE 6 had a horrible, very well deserved reputation for being insecure which has stuck in the minds of most people since then. 7 and 8 were each better than their predecessors but it wasn't until IE 9 until it could be considered as safe (as long as you used a good AV but that was true of Windows in general anyway). IE 10 and, especially IE 11 were the best versions but people's aversion to IE persisted due to the reputation of IE 6 with most not even bothering to give them a chance. I haven't seen any browser since IE 11 that worked as well for me overall, especially when it came to cookie handling. Granted, the Brave browser I now use is more secure and has better ad blocking on its own (partially due to my using Mint now) but, with a good AV and ad blocker, IE 11 was just as secure with good ad blocking and had the bonus of having far better cookie handling (Brave handles cookies somewhat as well but it's a royal PITA to set up and use).

[tonytiger]

I have been using MInt for about 10 years and it just works.
at first i kept 1 machine for windows which i still do but i use linux all day long .

the one big reason i love Linux is that i installed it on a old machine and it brought it back to life and i am getting another 6 years out of the desktop machine instead of plopping down more money for newer machines.

If i want to buy another Linux machine i can purchase one used built in for about $150
i like the cost value of it and i love its look and it just works

[Mark132]

I have been using Linux Mint for 6 years.
I like how it just works right out of the box and my grandchildren can even use it with out any problems.
The only thing i don't like about it is every thing looks out dated.
It's always the same old icons and ugly dark wallpaper.
This is 2024 how about some new icons at least.
I'll continue using Mint because it's very stable and user friendly.
I would just like it to be more with the times in looks.
thank you

[mudassir]

I have been using Linux Mint for 6 years.
I like how it just works right out of the box and my grandchildren can even use it with out any problems.
The only thing i don't like about it is every thing looks out dated.
It's always the same old icons and ugly dark wallpaper.
This is 2024 how about some new icons at least.
I'll continue using Mint because it's very stable and user friendly.
I would just like it to be more with the times in looks.
thank you

Hi Mark, Welcome to the Forum and your input

You may right click on the desktop and choose 'Change Desktop Background'.. there are several Wallpapers to choose from.
Also you may add your own folder containing wallpapers by clicking the [ + ] button at the bottom.
To loop through the wallpapers from selected folder, you may click Setting and enable 'Play Backgrounds as a Slideshow'.. can also customize delay in minutes.

To change icons:
Click Menu, type Themes.. choose Themes icon... There are many icon sets to choose from. Enjoy!