The recent release of Linux Mint 12 has gotten quite a bit of attention. Most reviews of Linux Mint 12 have focused mainly on the GNOME 3 desktop (as pointed out in the comments of my Linux Mint 12 GNOME 3 review by reader liquidkermit). But there’s another desktop environment included in Linux Mint 12 called MATE.
MATE is a fork of the venerable GNOME 2 desktop environment. MATE is a much more task-oriented desktop environment, unlike GNOME 3 and Unity which are more application-centric.
Why would people be interested in MATE rather than the new GNOME 3 desktop? Well some folks simply do not like GNOME 3, even with the extensions the Linux Mint developers have added to improve it. MATE offers the chance for users to stick with the tried and true interface of GNOME 2.
Linux Mint 12 MATE
You can access MATE by choosing it on the Linux Mint 12 login screen. Just click the little gear icon near the login box and choose MATE. You’ll load MATE instead of the default GNOME 3 desktop.
Before I get into this review, please bear in mind that it’s early for MATE. The Linux Mint developers have posted a message warning users that MATE may not be as stable as they like since it’s so early. Here’s that message, please bear it in mind if you try to use MATE in Linux Mint 12:
MATE is brand new, it’s not completely stable yet, and it’s missing a few parts. It’s being actively maintained and with close collaboration between the MATE developers and Linux Mint. With time the project will gain maturity and provide users with a traditional and solid desktop experience.
Eventually, MATE will be in every way identical to Gnome 2 and represent the future of traditional desktops within Linux.
What’s New In This Release
Since MATE is new, there’s not really a “new features” list for it. However, there are a couple of new features in Linux Mint 12 that also apply to MATE. Some things that are new apply only to GNOME 3 so I haven’t included them here. If you want to see those, please see the Linux Mint 12 GNOME 3 review that I did earlier.
Two new features in this release:
New wallpaper
Duck Duck Go as the default search engine
The new wallpaper offers an attractive Linux Mint logo as the default selection. There are also some nature scenes from places like Yellowstone National Park and India available as well.
Duck Duck Go is part of Linux Mint’s new business model. It’s very different than Google, it doesn’t change search results depending on who’s doing the search. Nor does it track or record user information. It’s built on open source code as well, and it contributes to open source development. I tried it out and it seems to work very well. Give it a shot and see how you like it before considering switching back to Google or whatever search engine you usually use.
DuckDuckGo Search Engine
Here’s the blurb from the LM developers about it:
Duck Duck Go: The new default search engine is Duck Duck Go. It doesn’t show different results depending on who’s making the search, it doesn’t track or record user information, it provides you with optimized results and it’s built on and contributes to Open Source.
Development of a new business model: Search engines will share with Linux Mint the revenue generated for them by Linux Mint users. Some search engines partnered with Linux Mint already and are present in Linux Mint 12.
Easy installation of other engines: The way you install search engines in Linux Mint 12 is radically different than in previous releases. Clear explanations and easy instructions are there for the user to understand how search engines help Linux Mint and to decide what to do. The installation of additional search engines is also now much easier than before.
Next, I’ll look at the hardware requirements and I’ll show what the install routine looks like in this distro.
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I was beginning to think I was doomed to go no further than Ubuntu 11.04.
Gnome 2 is a great desktop — especially relative to control freaked desktops that don’t let you manipulate or remove the panels. Seems the Linux developers have forgotten that Linux stands for Freedom! Go develop with the central committee known as Apple if you want to control and be controlled..
Okay, I have been taught not to gripe but to be grateful, so sorry.. I am Grateful for Mint with Mate. Yeah!!
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“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?” -Orwell
I dont see MATE on login screen onlu gnome,gnome classic,ubuntu. Shitty Gnome3 for me and crap mint 12. Prefe 10 Julia.
I am a physician who recently switched from Ubuntu 11.04 (autologin classic Gnome2) to Linux Mint 12 (autologin MATE) for my personal laptop. I switched because I feel “safer” with Mint knowing that a) the developers are not pushy with new user interfaces and b) they are committed to providing “classic” UI options. I think it is counterproductive to have to get used to a new UI–it would be like someone “upgrading” my office by moving everything around so that I no longer know where anything is…and consequently cannot get anything done.
I had no problems at all with MATE. It is stable and ran all of my applications without any hiccups. Caja is the default file manager but Nautilus is also installed. Both Software Center and Synaptic are present.
MATE had just a few issues for me, which were easily fixed:
1-no battery icon on taskbar (fixed by installing xfce4-power-manager)
2-sound preferences didn’t allow for >100% volume, which was nice with Ubuntu given my laptop’s weak speakers (fixed by installing pavucontrol)
3-no screensaver (not a big deal to me, so I didn’t pursue a fix)
4-IBus input method for Esperanto didn’t work with some programs (fixed by installing ibus-gtk3)
I am a happy Linux Mint convert and am glad that I can be part of a community that is of like mind when it comes to the fact that an OS should, above all, foster productivity and have a non-distracting and familiar UI.
[...] 2011. Originalet innehåller skrivbordsmiljöerna Gnome 3.2, Gnome Classic (Gnome 2.32) och Mate (a fork of the venerable GNOME 2 desktop environment). I DebEX-Mint 12 Special Edition har jag [...]
[...] Gnome 2 s názvem MATE. N?co o tomto prost?edí si m?žete p?e?íst nap?íklad na stránkách desktoplinuxreviews.com, p?ípadn? v anglickém jazyce na stránkách linuxmint.com. Pokud máme Ubuntu 11.10 (Oneiric [...]
I just installed Lisa and there in no baterry power in idcator :(
Although i started of by using MATE because of my dislike for Gnome 3 i gave Cinnamon a try as well,(which can be loaded using the synaptic manager) and i must say it’s great.
Surely before Mint 13 there will be a few alterations here and there, but so far i can only recommend it to all MATE users that they should use Cinnamon too. I am sure you’ll love it!!
I’m running this Mint 12 64bit atm but I am going to change some other distro because this graphical interface crashes always in 10-30 minutes if I run a java game (Minecraft, RuneScape) and play music (Banshee) at the same time… second thing I don’t like is the notification thingy just on the bottom bar, I can’t find a way to disable it, I’ve tried advanced settings thing but it only has an option to disable the whole bar. I don’t want to do anything instantly after I plug in a memory stick or a hard drive. also, it constantly spams the cable network disconnected error, It’s never actually disconnected or plugged out. It always flashes many times after I start the computer from sleep and sometimes with no reason at all. Theres even no lag with any internet using games or Skype when it flashes. This is a Samsung laptop with no other than the original parts and everything.
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3 CPU M 380 @ 2.53GHz (dual core)
4GB RAM
something about GPU (lspci -v | less):
02:00.0 VGA compatible controller: nVidia Corporation GT218 [GeForce 310M] (rev a2) (prog-if 00 [VGA controller])
Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device c06a
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 16
Memory at dc000000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16M]
Memory at e0000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=256M]
Memory at de000000 (64-bit, prefetchable) [size=32M]
I/O ports at 2000 [size=128]
[virtual] Expansion ROM at dd000000 [disabled] [size=512K]
Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [68] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
Capabilities: [78] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
Capabilities: [b4] Vendor Specific Information: Len=14
Capabilities: [100] Virtual Channel
Capabilities: [128] Power Budgeting
Capabilities: [600] Vendor Specific Information: ID=0001 Rev=1 Len=024
Kernel driver in use: nvidia
Kernel modules: nvidia_current, nouveau, nvidiafb
02:00.1 Audio device: nVidia Corporation High Definition Audio Controller (rev a1)
Subsystem: Samsung Electronics Co Ltd Device c06a
Flags: bus master, fast devsel, latency 0, IRQ 17
Memory at ddefc000 (32-bit, non-prefetchable) [size=16K]
Capabilities: [60] Power Management version 3
Capabilities: [68] MSI: Enable- Count=1/1 Maskable- 64bit+
Capabilities: [78] Express Endpoint, MSI 00
Kernel driver in use: HDA Intel
Kernel modules: snd-hda-intel
Fedora with KDE-4.8 is the key
Been using mate on 2 laptops for a few days no problems at all, runs superB on old thinkpad t40 with 512 RAM , i found it to run better than LXDE on that old hardware +1 to clem & the troops.