linux Mint is one of the most popular (GNU/Linux)operating systems around, and according to Distrowatch.com ‘s popularity ranking factor, for many years now Linux Mint has been on the top 3most popular distributions (now it’s actually the number one!, surpassing Debian and Ubuntu. By the way, Fedora’s ranking is sinking fast, no surprise there though. Fedora isjust a distribution for the coding elite of the GNU/Linux world and not for the average user, there I said it!). And there’s a good and a sensible reason for it (in my opinion anyway).
The reason is, with Linux Mint there is a sense of continuity where by change, it progresses. In other words, compared to the ‘radical’ and often chaotic changes that some other desktop environments bring such as GNOME, ‘change’ in Linux Mint is progressive.For instance, if you look at the evolution of theCinnamon desktop (first released in 2011), so far it has been very consistent (UI-wise), yet, things have been vastly improved and hundreds of new features added. But if you look at the evolution of GNOME, by each major release (1x -> 2x and then from 2x -> 3x) there hasbeen radical changes through which an entirely different looking (and functioning) desktop emerged. And sometimes the end result is quite chaotic for many end-users.
That being said, “Are radical changes bad?” That I cannot say. However, it’s usually the young and the energetic who are more prone to make radical choices. The old, the experiencedand the settled, usually is more careful in their choicesbecause experiences havetaughtthem that there is a guaranteed positivity in changewhen it’s progressive . The best example is to look at the evolution of the Apple Mac OS . I mean look at the below screenshot. That’s how Mac OS used to look in 1984! And here we are after 32 years where so many radical changes have occurred, yet amazingly, the core identity of the desktop is still there, is it not?
I don’t know what the future will bring for Linux Mint’s Cinnamon desktop environment, but here I am using the latest version of it (Linux Mint 18, Cinnamon) after 2 years, and for the past 3days, I experienced the same stability, fastness, efficiency and although vastly improved, the same looking desktop environment that was there, not only 2 years ago, actually it was like this fromthe very beginning. And the users don’t complain! And according to Linux Mint developers, it’s actually the 3rd most popular operating system used on Earth, after Microsoft windows and Mac OS. That’s how it should be done, methinks. Andspeaking from a software developer’s point of view, I think it’s alright to make radical changes at the early stages where one is still in the process of creating a core identity. But once you’re past it, you should move on with progressive steps not chaotic confusions. For instance, Ubuntu came up with Unity and it was a radical change back then, a totally revamped desktop UI. Andthey should better stick with it for many years to come. Otherwise, if all you ever do is introducing chaoticchanges onhow things are done, you either are a genius or an idiot who don’thave a clear goal in mind , let alone displayingthe lack of instinctively mastered skill.
The philosophical lesson is over, let’s move on with the Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon Review . So as soon as I heard a new version of Linux Mint has been released I downloaded the Cinnamon edition right away. Linux Mint is not restricted to their in house built Cinnamon desktop but also featuresthe Xfce (not updated to the ’18’ release yet) and the MATEdesktop. But I always was very interested in Cinnamon (I mean the desktop, yes, love the vegetable also :grinning: ) and that’s all I’ve ever used with Linux Mint so I decided to use it here for the review also.
The Cinnamon flavor comes with Cinnamon desktop 3.0.6, Kernel 4.4, X.org 1.18.3 and is based on the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS core. The disc image size is about 1.7 GB. Linux Mint
Cinnamon 18 will be supported up to 2021 with security fixes.UEFI is fully supported, but you need to turn off ‘Secure Boot’, otherwise you’re requiredto do some work .
I don’t have performance related data from a recent Linux Mint Cinnamon release, thus I decided to compare its performance with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.However,when I was done reviewing Ubuntu 16.04 LTS and Ubuntu 16.04 Flavors comparison , I received a new laptop. So I decided to install Ubuntu 16.04 LTS before I installed LM 18 Cinnamon on the new laptop, and then re-measured the performance related data because comparing two distributions that were used on totally different hardware doesn’t make any sense. And as always, before I begin the Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon review, here’s brief description of the hardware details of the new laptop:
Intel Core i7-5500U, Hybrid GPU Setup (Intel Broadwell HD Graphics 5500, Nvidia 920M), 4GB RAM DDR3, Hybrid Permanent Storage Setup (Seagate 5400 RPM, 500 GB rotational disk and a Kingston 24 GB SSD), Qualcomm Atheros AR9565 Wireless Adapter, Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller, Realtek ALC3236 Sound Card, LED Display (1366 x 768 resolution, 60 FPS/HZ). It's an Asus laptop (F302LJ-FN024H).
This laptop as you can see, includes two storage devices. One 500 GB rotational disk and another 24 GB SSD, both separate drives (not a 2-in-onetype hybrid drive where a single controller controls both the SSD and the rotational disk). And since I don’t have a lot of SSD space remaining, and since I’ve installed the main operating system on the 24 GB SSD (I use it as the ‘root’ partition actually, the ‘Home’ partition is located on the rotational disk), I installed Linux Mint 18 Cinnamon into the conventional and the slower, rotational HDD instead.
As always,also remember that, after installing the OS,I boot(ed) into the OS5-6 times for letting things to settle down (first time ‘wizards’ and background system services to be done with their setups) and then I disabled the Startup Welcome screen and the Update manager from running to keep the accuracy of the memory usage readings high. User auto-login was also enabled and I also added System Monitor shortcut to the task-bar. And only after measuring the performance related data (boot-up times, memory usage, power usage, system responsiveness, shutdown delay) I started to use the operating system and discover what’s new.
Also kindly remember that I’m using Linux MintCinnamon with a 2 year absence. Therefore, some of what I may say ‘new’ might already have had been there in the past.
The Installer, GRUB & Boot-Up Logo…I’ve decided to skip both the installer, the boot-up logo & GRUB. First of all, LM 18 uses Ubuntu 16.04 LTS installer and I’m sure you all are familiar with it. Secondly, the GRUB and boot-up logo haven’t changed either. Therefore, I’ll go over to the Desktop straightaway.
The DesktopExcept for the new wallpaper,it’s a typical Cinnamon desktop UI where a Microsoft Window’s traditional looking desktop is presented (a task-bar at the bot