Each time a new version of Ubuntu is released, a new version of Linux Mint quickly follows. Linux Mint 11 has just been released and it’s probably the best version of Linux Mint ever. If you aren’t familiar with Linux Mint then you’ve missed out on what is arguably one of the best desktop Linux distros available. Linux Mint 11 is based on Ubuntu 11.04 but it takes that distro to a whole new level, as you’ll see in this review.
Please note that the Linux Mint developers have wisely decided to use GNOME for this release. They have not followed in the footsteps of Ubuntu by using Unity. This will probably please most current Linux Mint users since Unity has caused an enormous amount of controversy in the Linux community.
Linux Mint comes in CD or DVD form. The CD does not include multimedia codecs and other restricted software, so it’s fine for those in countries where such things are banned.
You can easily upgrade to the DVD version and install multimedia codecs via the welcome screen or the menu (just look for Install Multimedia Codecs or Upgrade to the DVD Edition). Upgrading to the DVD version will also get you LibreOffice, Samba, Java, more fonts, and other goodies. So it’s worthwhile to do it if you choose to download the CD version instead of the DVD version.
What’s New In This Release
Here’s a sample of the new features in this release:
Software Manager improvements (spash screen, bigger category icons, fonts category, improved applications screen)
Update Manager speed improvement
You can turn off fortune cookies in Desktop Settings
New default background featuring 3D Linux Mint logo
Overlay scroll bars
Mint-X theme improvements
LibreOffice replaces OpenOffice
Mint Search Add On for Firefox, Chromium & Opera
Changes to the default software selection
The Software Manager looks fantastic in this release. The splash screen and bigger category icons are great additions. The font category is perfect for font junkies (though personally it’s not something I’d pay much attention to but your mileage may vary). The improved applications screen is also quite welcome.
Linux Mint’s software management tool was quite good before but these changes make it even better. It’s pretty much at the top of the heap these days and should be regarded as an example of how to do a software manager the right way. I’ll have more to say about it in the software section of the review.
The update manager is faster than in prior releases. It now just looks for package updates rather than checking your Internet connection, updating rules and then getting package updates. I confess though that I didn’t think it was really that slow in the past, but I’ll take whatever speed improvements I can get.
Rules are also now included in Update Manager and when new rules are released a new version of Update Manager is also released. Dialogs have also been improved and Update Manager will now hide itself after updates are done (no more dialog confirmation is necessary after updates are complete).
Fortune cookies are the funny quotes that appear in the terminal. Apparently some people had a stick up their rear end about this so you can now turn them off in the Desktop Settings. It’s not something I ever cared about but there you go. If you’re an anti-fortune-cookie person then you can now celebrate your victory over them.
The Desktop Settings tool also now detects which desktop environment is running and shows settings for that desktop specifically (GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE, Fluxbox, etc.). This is great if you’re a desktop-hopper that can’t settle into one environment for any length of time.
The new default wallpaper is very cool. I’ll have more to say about that in the desktop section of the review.
The overlay scroll bars are what they are and, frankly, I don’t really care for them. I don’t consider them more than a nuisance though. But if you dislike them enough, you can disable them. I think it would be nice to have that option in the Desktop Settings control instead though. It would make it easier and faster to get rid of them.
The Mint-X theme has been better integrated with Synaptic, GIMP, Banshee and Deluge.
The search add-on might be helpful for those who use Firefox 4, Chromium and Opera. It contains bug fixes, more spit and polish, and lets you more easily search Wikipedia, YouTube, Amazon, IMDB and other popular sites.
The Mint developers also made some changes to the default software selection. LibreOffice is now the default office suite (woohoo!). Gwibber is no included by default, Banshee replaces Rhythmbox, and gThumb replaces F-Spot. I’m fine with these changes, particularly the inclusion of LibreOffice. I shed no tears whatsoever for the demise of OpenOffice; it’s time has come and gone. LibreOffice is where it’s at now.
Hardware Requirements & Installation
Hardware Requirements
Here’s what you’ll need to run this distro:
* x86 processor (Linux Mint 64-bit requires a 64-bit processor. Linux Mint 32-bit works on both 32-bit and 64-bit processors).
* 512 MB RAM (1GB recommended for a comfortable usage).
* 5 GB of disk space
* Graphics card capable of 800×600 resolution
* CD/DVD drive or USB port
Installation
The Linux Mint 11 installer is as easy as you’d expect. You can watch a slideshow about Linux Mint 11 while your install finishes. The screenshots below walk you through the install, from beginning to end.
Linux Mint 11 is a Live CD/DVD so you can try it before you make a decision about installing it.
Booting & Login
Here’s what the booting and login screens look like:
The Desktop
The desktop is contains just two icons: Computer and Home. The panel contains the usual stuff (updates, time/date, volume, networking, the menu button and a show the desktop icon).
The excellent Linux Mint panel makes it very easy to access applications, system admin tools and important places on your system. You can also search, adjust your screen resolution and even launch System Monitor if you need to see what’s running and what’s consuming your system’s resources.
Themes
The default theme is Mint-X and it’s quite attractive in its own right. This release provides better integration with Deluge, GIMP, Banshee, and Synaptic. It also includes new radio buttons.
However, if you dislike it you can easily change it. There are a few other choices, as well as a link to download more themes online. I doubt many people will want to switch from the default them, I sure didn’t. It looks great to me.
Wallpaper
The new default wallpaper is gorgeous! It’s sort of a brushed metal 3D-ish version of the Linux Mint logo and it works really well with the default theme.
If it doesn’t float your boat, there are a few other choices included or you can download more online.
Bundled Software
Here’s a sample of the software included in this release.
Games
No Games Installed By Default
Graphics
GIMP
gThumb
LibreOffice Draw
Simple Scan
Internet
Firefox
Giver
Pidgin IM
Sun Java 6
Thunderbird Mail/News
Transmission
XChat IRC
Multimedia
Banshee
Brasero
GNOME MPlayer
Movie Player
Sound Recorder
VLC Media Player
Office
Dictionary
LibreOffice
Software Management
As I noted earlier, the Software Manager has a neat splash screen that appears when you launch it. It’s also got bigger category icons and a new font category. These tweaks, combined with the improved application screens, make this the best version of Software Manager ever. Newbies to Linux Mint will be delighted to use Software Manager and veteran users will most likely enjoy them as well. As you can tell, I’m a big fan of the Software Manager and I’d like to see more distros move in the same direction as Linux Mint.
Of course you can also use Synaptic to manage your software if you want. It’s not as glitzy as Software Manager but it will get the job done just as well. I recommend that Linux newbies start with Software Manager though and play with Synaptic once they have their feet on the ground with Linux Mint.
Adding & Removing Software
As always, it’s quite simple to add or remove software in Software Manager. Just find the application you want and click the Install or Remove button.
Sound and Multimedia
YouTube & Flash
As always with Linux Mint, I had no problems running YouTube videos. Flash is installed by default so there’s no downloading or installing required for you to use YouTube and other flash-based multimedia on the web. Sound and video both worked very well while playing videos.
Multimedia Applications
Linux Mint 11 comes with a very solid selection of multimedia applications. All of the basic functionality you’ll need is installed by default. Banshee, Brasero, GNOME MPLayer, Movie Player, Sound Recorder and VLC are all included as part of your desktop.
If you find yourself lacking something, fire up the Software Manager and you’ll find another 96 multimedia applications available for you to download.
Problems & Headaches
I’m delighted and annoyed to note here that I didn’t see any problems with Linux Mint. The install went very well and I could not find any overt blemishes to report here. My Linux Mint 11 system was stable and quite speedy.
Ugh. :blink: :angry: :sad:
While I’m happy for the Linux Mint developers, it makes it hard to provide anything juicy to report in this section. So I will default to asking you, my dear readers, to please post any problems or headaches you encountered while using Linux Mint in the comments below. I’m sure some of you will run into burps of one kind or another, depending on your hardware.
Thanks in advance if you can share them below for the benefit of other readers.
Note that there are a few burps listed on the Linux Mint site that you might want to bear in mind.
Where To Get Help
Please take a moment to register for the DLR forum; everybody is welcome. Feel free to post a message in the forum and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction. The forum contains discussions about Linux, as well as other topics. Please stop by and say hello when you have a chance.
Drop by the forum to get help, talk about Linux or just hang out.
You might also want to check out the Linux Mint Community site, forums and blog for feedback and support.
Final Thoughts & Who Should Use It
Linux Mint 11 is yet another great version of one of the best desktop Linux distros out there. It’s an excellent choice for those new to Linux and will let them hit the ground running. But it’s also worth considering for veteran users and distrohoppers who are looking for a distro to settle in with for a while.
I was very happy to see that the developers have made it easy and simple for CD users to upgrade to the full DVD version. It’s a very good way to help those stuck in oppressive countries or who don’t have DVD players in their computers. The improvements to Software Manager are also something for all of us to be glad about.
The other tweaks and new features are just icing on an already sweet Linux Mint cake. Really, there’s just not much to complain about with this release. Linux Mint still retains its position as one of the best desktop distros available today. I highly recommend downloading it and checking it out if you aren’t familiar with it.
I also commend the Linux Mint developers for using the GNOME interface instead of Unity. The folks who prefer Unity can simply opt for generic Ubuntu while devoted Linux Mint users are spared the trauma of adapting their work flow to Unity’s netbook-ish interface.
Remember though that this release is still based on Ubuntu. If you dislike Ubuntu then I suggest Linux Mint Debian Edition or Linux Mint Xfce Debian Edition. Both are rolling releases and have nothing to do with Ubuntu.
Linux Mint 11 is suitable for beginner, intermediate and advanced Linux users.
What’s your take on this distro? Tell me in the comments below. Visit Eye On Linux for Linux opinion columns and distro quick looks; visit JimLynch.com for other technology coverage.
Summary Table:
| Product: | Linux Mint 11 |
| Web Site: | http://www.linuxmint.com/ |
| Price: | Free |
| Pros: | Attractive default wallpaper. Software Manager has been improved with a font category, bigger category icons, better application pages, and a splash screen. Update Manager’s speed has increased. You can turn off fortune cookies in the terminal. LibreOffice replaces OpenOffice.org. This release retains the GNOME interface and does not use Ubuntu’s Unity. |
| Cons: | This release is still based on Ubuntu and is probably not well suited for those who dislike what Ubuntu itself has to offer. Those looking for Unity will definitely have to use generic Ubuntu instead of Linux Mint. |
| Suitable For: | Beginner, intermediate or advanced Linux users. |
| Rating: | 5/5 |
@ tertitten:
And what is your cup of tea?
I'm thrilled with Mint! I used windows till now, but now Mint is my only choise!Great! I have all I need here!
:biggrin: yes I am an old hands on guy a CE from HP not old school ANCIENT SCHOOL. Went to HP UX training screwed up many a system..etc. tried to migrate from Windows to Xandros, no success, but close, Mandriva, no, Ubuntu REAL CLOSE but MINT finally is it.
Suggestions: Classic Ubuntu desktop is the best (actually Xandros Nautilus allows you to navigate seamlessly to shared files on the network, so if you can work this feature into the Mint desktop and also, don't show too much at once in your menu, it is confusing.
Xandros becomes too restrictive really soon, even Xandros 4 is still the same old thing.
Ubuntu threw me into an endless loop in creating passwords(!!!!!)
What really gives Mint the edge over anything else is how easy to register with the Mint community.. following the threads I noticed how PATIENT you mint moderators are in general, none of the "go back and read sction 1 of the manual (and quit pestering me with your weird ideas about how to set up YOUR system, " and similar.
Xclnt idea to give people a chance to write about their configuration successes, how they did it.
And my total respect to all those that put Mint together…and also Ubuntu its a great success
Thank you, best regards.
In short I have gotten so close in configuring everything I need from Mint, that I have confidence in being able to overcome some remaining little problems , I NEVER GOT THAT FAR WITH THE OTHER DISTROS…and that is the main theme here.
great article about the not so well known O.S. i'm using linux mint 11 and pretty happy..
Sir,
You may not be aware of it, but there are videos on your pages that play without having been asked to do so.
This makes your site too irritating to use, which is a shame.
~George
great sytem tell me when the next comes out!!!!!!!!! :ninja: i might get one
Good review which helped my decision to try Linux Mint. First impressions - I really like it and the menu layout is really cool. The one problem I have is with my wireless and I have spent a couple of days slogging through Google and different forums without finding a solution to getting it working. I am dual booting with Windows and wireless works fine with Windows 7. I will keep playing around with Mint. If I can get it working, I just might scrap Windows on my desktops at home.
I am installing Linux Mint 11. Before trying this version, I think the Ubuntu 11.04 is the best. The unity is good at functionality. Mint doesn't compromise functionality with elegance. It runs very fast in my IBM x60. The problem is what's next. Gnome 3 seems tailor for tablet. KDE 4's effect is very nice, but when the mouse point at a widget, a panel grow up, which is annoying. I suspect whether mint stick gnome or kde in coming version.
Been using Mint 11 since it's release. Great Distro. The first one I can actually live with.
Ullas wrote:
Thanks, I'm glad you like the reviews. Makes me feel good knowing that they are useful to people.
:smile:
greyhaired wrote:
Yeah, grey can be bland depending on how its used. Thankfully it's pretty easy to change the wallpaper to something bright and cheery.
rhY wrote:
Heh, heh. I'll add a giant flashing, spinning logo that says just that in the next review. :wink: :whistle:
tertitten wrote:
Yeah, it's a good choice for GNOME users that don't want GNOME 3.
Bling2Ming wrote:
Good tip, I think a lot of people hate that damned window scroll widget. Thanks for posting the tip.
Dave wrote:
Yeah, it is postponing the inevitable I guess. But given the condition GNOME 3 is in right now, I think it's a good thing. The LM developers can always add it later in a future release. They did a smart thing by staying with the older version of GNOME.
I'm just starting up on Linux and I'm planning to try out this distro.. hope I could find it convenient .:cheerful:
You left out something important in your review:
Linux Mint 11 is the best OS ever created.
Other than that your review was pretty good.
Seriously folks, don't hesitate any longer. Give yourself a fresh Mint 11 x64 install ASAP, and then install Dolphin the Wii emulator. Better FPS than in Windows. The year of Desktop Linux is RIGHT NOW!
what a nice new shade of dreary grey desktop whe have now,..much better that the dull grey one before or the one before that,.
it goes well with the other dull dreary grey shades of Linux drabness and tackiness
the latest craze is play-school desktops like Ubuntu Unity,..
why are Microsoft programs so much more better looking? are their staff & programmers more colourful,. or is Linux infested by alien grey types
Cannot wait for the next batch of 2011 dismal shade of grey themes that is on Distrowatch - newwave clearlooks, industrial charcoal etc etc etc etc etc
Yawnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn grey again,… is it a curse?
I have liked Mint ever since I started using it, several releases ago: Ubuntu with more sensible choices.
My big complaint is the upgrade process. It should be possible to do what works on Debian and Ubuntu and do it via apt-get after changing the repositories. (Or even, shock, a GUI tool.) That often doesn't work on Mint and you really do have to backup and reinstall from scratch.
If I wanted to do that, I would use Windows! It's not ok for something with a six month release schedule.
The workstations in my small i-cafe are all on Linux Mint 11 already! I Love it! :D
Great distro, gotta love it! I find nothing but happiness sticking to gnome 2 while bugs are exposed/fixed in gnome 3.
Now for the few things I so far has found to be buggy:
1."About me" doesn't save changes.
2. I'm having difficulties getting bluetooth mouse link. Worked like a champ in Mint 9.
3. Like someone else mentioned: Software manager does not show applications as succesfully installed, before refreshing.
4. Atomic clock/automatic time syncronisation NTP not installed, and even not suggested. Why the mint team removed this I really don't understand.
I regularly see and read your Reviews. I find it informative. Thanks for your time. I have been using Linux for a while, but this is awesome. Mostly Ubuntu was my choice. I just thought of giving Mint a try. It just blew my brains off What a great distro. (I didn't like Mint 10 though). Every thing works out of box except for Desktop cube. Its already warned by mint developers not to use it apart from that its polished. Note you can remove Overlay bars :Linux Mint 11 inherits the newly introduced "overlay scrollbars". If you would like to use traditional scrollbars instead, you can deactivate them by removing the "overlay-scrollbar" and "liboverlay-scrollbar-0.1-0" packages and by restarting your computer.
I've just installed it and have noticed two things: Installing the proprietary ATi(AMD?) drivers makes it hang pretty bad on start up and with or without them VLC is playing videos out of sync. Also, the moving a window to the top to maximise it is driving me crazy. I'm a lot OCD and I'm constantly moving windows around on my high rez large screen and now I can't have a window touching the top of the screen. Like I said, I just installed it yesterday so I'll give it a week and play around with it, I've been using mint for 2 years now, 4 or 5 Ubuntu releases, so I'm not giving up on it. I do like the look and the upgrade manager still, the two things that steered me towards it in the first place, so I'll stick around.
@ albinard: Just add it to somewhere in the bar.
I installed Mint 11 as a very happy Mint 10 user. I kept on having issues with Compiz, the menu is gone from the windows. used to fix it with desktop visual effects or just compiz fusion and reloading with emerald. none of these work and visual effects is not available - removed? -
Spent ages reinstalling Mint 10 back.
Why? I need compiz to work before I can use it! Has anybody else had these problems?
I'm pretty sure you can install Unity in Linux Mint if you want. Just enter "sudo apt-get install unity" or "sudo apt-get install unity-2d" into a terminal (without quotes), or look for it in Synaptic or something. "netbook-launcher-efl" should also be there, I think, for those who like Lucid's netbook interface.
Major disadvantage is that Mint does not support installation on raid disks. Ubuntu offers an alternative installation CD/DVD.
Good review, as always. I wonder what Mint is going to do once the Unity thing plays out. I guess they are in a good position. If Unity fails, they can go with Debian. But, all distro's are going to eventually have to change. Unity or Gnome 3. Lets not forget what happened when KDE went to version 4, there wee allot of upset people then too. Anyway, this release looks very nice.
@ Jose s:
Download Unetbootin and you should have no problem installing Mint from USB.
It's been 2 days since I installed Katya and have noticed following problems:
1. Boot time has increased considerably. Why, it takes almost the same time as that of Windows to boot.
2. The Applets crash randomly.
3. My 3G USB modem is not detected when I insert it for the first time, during every session. I have to re-insert it every time, then only it's detected.
4. The session crashes randomly - I am logged out and have to login again. This has happened 2-3 times.
Maybe these are specific to my Dell XPS 15 L501X - but they are worth mentioning, especially the session crashes.
Nice Review. Linux Mint 11 is fantastic! I am glad that they did not adopt Unity or Gnome 3. I hope that in their next version one iso will include Gnome 2X again and not only Gnome 3.
I'm seriously considering abandoning Ubuntu. Mint is so full of goodness and convenience as well as beauty. It presents the user with a fully-functional OS upon installation without the childish, toy-like appearance of Unity. For those who like Unity, I have no bone to pick; it just gets in my way when trying to be productive. I don't need more clicks; I need fewer and greater responsiveness, not the reverse. Kudos to Mint 11. Well done.
well i installed linux mint 11 but when i went to enable wireless it wasn't detecting the accesspoint but the other pc running debian is picking it up without a problem
@ filolog:
thanks!
@fbr: You said:
Right-click panel > select add to panel > scroll to bottom of pop up window > select workspace selector. Viola – four work spaces.
I tried that - it SHOWS four panels, but try Ctrl-Alt-left-arrow, and all you get is a dead freeze. It may show them, but they aren't really available.
As was mentioned in an earlier DLR review of Mint 11, the decision was made to restrict workspaces so the ex-Windower wouldn't unexpectedly see his work vanish into a blank desktop.
I downloaded the RC of LM11 as soon as it was available and have run it (and now the final version) for some time now, and honestly I must say I'm not that keen.
The known bugs (compiz especially) and overlay scrollbars (only on some windows, and yes I know they can be turned off) really detract from the out of box experience for me.
So much so that I've reverted back to LM10 KDE.
Noticed a few problems in the RC.
Unable to change font size in new Mint-X theme.
Nautilus has issues in drive selection color when copying files.
Liked MInt but it made me miss the ease of Unity. (unmount especially)
The old Gnome is out the door.
tertitten wrote:
I am in the same position as you are; I think Mint is just right for people who care more about using their system for their every day work, but could care less about the management particulars, and in fact, they may not care or even want to have a bunch of choices to make.
I am the opposite. Yes, I appreciate speed and convenience, but what works best for me are systems that have a quick, simple base install that is easy; Mint qualifies there, but then provides a fine degree of granularity for adding, removing, or modifying the existing applications and their configuration. Mint tries hard to mask that stuff. A lot of people like that; I don't. I want to know what's there, what it's doing and why.
For me, Linux Mint Debian Edition and the two derivatives that have come out in that space are a little better for me than the straight Debian. They are LESS polished for the user who wants stuff streamlined, consistent, and good looking, but at least they put fewer roadblocks in the way for running straight Debian software.
Debian itself is GREAT for a guy like me. One of the best derivatives that matches my style is antiX, a derivative of SimplyMEPIS, which derives directly from Debian. The antiX distribution is light, but it is full of tools and utilities, which are smaller in size than what you get with Mint, but more hands on, yet they are not unreasonably difficult to figure out.
SimplyMEPIS is another great one for me. It's closer to Mint than antiX is in terms of providing one of those simple, ready to use systems. Again, those who want no tinkering at all may still prefer Mint, but those who want something simple, yet when they want to grab it and configure it to suit their needs, it does so, simply and easily. For my bias, it is the number one easy to use desktop system, but I do acknowledge that the plug and pray crowd will tend to go for Mint.
I'm all for distros like Mint. Just because it's not for me is NOT a knock on it at all. It is simply a recognition that we really need to have "different strokes for different folks". Mint delivers a different stroke - a real Linux infrastructure that DOES NOT have the geek look and feel; it has the feel similar to that of the two most popular commercial desktop systems (though not the exact same features or appearance). So if you want the stability of Linux, the ability to install other free software that comes from Linux (but you may not want to do that at all, and in the meantime, you want something easy) - this one IS IT.
A chaque sortie de mint, je teste quelques jours. J'ai comme le sentiment qu'un jour, j'y resterai.
Cordialement
@ Prince Cruise:
The power regression is likely due to the 2.6.38 kernel. This kernel, along with 2.6.39 have power management issues.
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&…
I still use 2.6.37 on my Arch system because of that.
Can you please give some details about BTRFS? Would you recommend using it instead of etx4 for a brand new installation?
In my opinion, the only problem I have with Mint is that no games are installed by default. I love Mint, and have been very happy with it since version 8 (when I started using it), but I do wish they'd throw 3 games in to start you off. It's one of the things Fedora gets right.
Nice review.
I wish to add something here, I was running Mint-9-Gnome happily since an year, did a fresh install of Mint-10-Gnome and LMDE-2010-Gnome on 2 separate partitions, and then I got screwed up.
Let's talk about my Lenovo laptop's 6 cell battery performance. I was happily getting close to 2 hrs. plus few minutes with FF and a few small apps opened in Mint 9, with unnecessary processes stopped in background by me. While in LMDE, it just got improved by a few minutes as expected. But O' my my, this Mint-10 $hit drinks my battery like a leach. The normal battery time I'm getting with the same setup is 1 hr. something :shocked:. I checked, tweaked the same way I could, still it just doesn't go above it.
Now please don't suggest me to try out other DE's with Mint, I know about that and want to use Gnome, but so much of difference in one revision with same DE-Gnome is horrible. Seems like a kernel bug to me, at least what people on web is fussing about. This is soul reason I'm going back to Mint-9-Gnome and hesitating to try Mint 11. Otherwise everything else in every release of Mint is always up to notch and almost perfect :).
Thanks and regards.
Still, there are problems in Linux Mint 11 (Katya). MintMenu is a one of them. After some time it becomes unfriendly, it is lazy or even freezes, and has to be replaced with Gnome menu, or some dock (all of them work far more better than mintMenu). Software manager is the second problem. It is a toy, it is beautiful but useless. Synaptic is the real tool
Hey – what happened to workspaces? There is NO option for more than one workspace! That’s an absolute stopper for me.
Right-click panel > select add to panel > scroll to bottom of pop up window > select workspace selector. Viola - four work spaces.
Personally I don't really care for Ubuntu or Ubuntu based distros. However, I have nothing but good things to say about Mint 11. Hat's off to their development team.
I'm fine with Mint's decision to stick with Gnome 2.3, but isn't this just postponing the inevitable? Ubuntu 11.10 is going to be using Gnome 3 so even if Mint sticks with it anti-Unity stance, there are still going to be big changes to the desktop with the Gnome Shell. You say it's a good thing that Mint users don't have to suffer the shock of a new desktop, but that isn't going to last long. In 6 months they'll have to adapt to something new or switch to something else. I don't know… to me it seems like it might have been nice for Mint to offer its users the ability to use Unity in Mint 11 so they could start to get a feel for different desktop shells now while they can still easily just switch back to the classic 2.3. Let people test the waters now, because once Mint 12 drops you're not really going to have a choice.
Even if you just stick with Mint Debian (which is not as user friendly as the regular Mint) you'll still eventually have to learn something new or switch to something else. The classic Gnome 2.3 desktop is dying out. I say you either look forward or switch, but don't just pretend that it's not happening.
Hey - what happened to workspaces? There is NO option for more than one workspace! That's an absolute stopper for me.
Linux Mint 11 - few functionality improvements, mostly glitz and eye candy. Still using multiple programs (Software Manager and Update Manager) to achieve what one Synaptic program does. Apparently more than just "some people with a stick up their rear end" complained about the fortune cookies but the developers did not go far enough. The package should be able to be uninstalled, not just turned off.
One positive for Mint 11 is that they did not slavishly follow Ubuntu into Unity.
@Jose s
I have always used UNetbootin to create liveUSB flash sticks from downloaded Mint ISOs - and it has never failed me (I usually format my USB stick in ext3 beforehand with Gparted application, but FAT32 filesystem is also recommended sometimes).
UNetbootin can be installed on a Linux or Windows machine.
Rgrdz
The one big flaw with Mint 11 has to be that it's inherited the annoying window scroll widget, that you have to hang your mouse cursor over for it to appear, I hate this.
To get rid of the awful window scroll widget and revert to a proper scroll bar open synaptic and remove the following 2 packages.
overlay-scrollbar and liboverlay-scrollbar-0.1-0
Reboot and a the normal window scrollbar will appear.
I really don't like the new wallpaper and do like the previous one. Is it possible to revert to the previous one?
This makes me miss using Mint. I used it back when it was Cassandra and stopped when one of their upgrades failed horribly. Looks like they've come a long way.
I just installed Mint 11 and this is my first experience with it. It's very clean and polished, especially since it's just a release candidate.
The install was good the only thing I haven't liked so far are 1. overlay scrollbars (ugh!)
2. When an install finished in software manager it doesn't say 'installed' unless you back out and reload the screen.
3. Don't care for the Mint 'customized search'. It's ugly and serves up too many ads.
All in all I'm really enjoying Mint
This is a great article, but i have one a question.
IS this should work boot on the USB Flash mint linux 11?
Because i have a tried to created a flash with Minux Linux 10, it was a failed. let me know. thanks.
Great review as usuall, thank you..
Personally mint are not my cup of tea, but clem and the other devs are doing a great job with mint, there are in my opinion very few ubuntu deriviates worth any time at all, but mint sure are one for those who like gnome2 :)