Next, we have Xfce, a lightweight edition of Linux Mint designed for older or less powerful hardware. In addition, Cinnamon offers a wide range of customization options, allowing users to tweak the appearance and behavior of their desktop to their liking. It features a modern and intuitive desktop environment that resembles the traditional Windows desktop. At the same time, quite expectedly, it is also the most widely used and popular Mint edition among users.

The Linux Mint Cinnamon edition is the distribution’s shining star, where the main efforts are focused and hence draw the most attention. Cinnamon Edition Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition Outside of those mentioned above three, however, we also have LMDE (Linux Mint Debian Edition) and the Edge edition, which serve slightly different purposes, which we’ll go into in more detail below. Instead, as the names indicate, the primary distinction is the desktop environment with which they are provided. Apart from this, Mint also offers two other editions with Xfce and MATE, respectively.īecause all three editions use the Ubuntu LTS versions as their foundation, they have no functional difference. Linux Mint provides five variants of its operating system, with the main flagship edition being Linux Mint, with the Cinnamon desktop environment. Something that, as of today, we can say has been achieved. Both before and after, the accent is put on quality to please users with the best possible desktop experience. In 2014, the developers of Mint decided to rely only on Ubuntu’s LTS (long-term support) releases. Thus Cinnamon was born, a desktop environment that has skyrocketed the distribution to new heights and, to this day, remains one of the greatest and most user-friendly desktop environments in Linux.Ĭinnamon was shipped as an add-on for Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” in November 2011 and has been available as Mint’s flagship desktop environment since Linux Mint 13 “Maya,” released in May 2012.

The Mint’s devs refuse to adopt this, citing the apparent lack of essential components such as a persistent panel, tray, menu, and so on, as well as the odd way of dealing with it, which contradicts user habits.Īs a result, they made the bold decision to build their desktop environment. Something that, to this day, is received with mixed feelings by the Linux community. This leads us to 2011 when GNOME developers drastically shifted the user interface by switching to GNOME 3, which implemented an unconventional concept of how a desktop environment should interact. In the years afterward, the project has grown significantly in popularity among Linux users looking for a reliable Linux distribution with an easy-to-use desktop, hiding most administration activities traditionally done mainly in a terminal behind in-house developed friendly GUI interfaces. Only three months after that, in November 2006, Linux Mint 2.0 “Barbara” was released, switched to the GNOME desktop environment and based on Ubuntu 6.10 “Edgy Eft.” In August 2006, mainly developed and released by Clement Lefebvre, Linux Mint 1.0, codenamed “Ada,” sees the light, based on Kubuntu 6.06.

So naturally, the decision to build his own did not take long. Over time, focusing on the desktop side of Linux, he gained a clear vision of what the average user expects from a desktop Linux OS. To host his articles, he created a website called “Linux Mint.” The Linux Mint story began in 2006 with Clement Lefebvre, a French developer who wrote reviews and tutorials for various Linux sites. In this article, we’ll dive into everything you need to know about Linux Mint, including its history, features, and benefits. So if you’re curious about this free and open-source OS, you’ve come to the right place. Linux Mint is a popular, user-friendly operating system based on Ubuntu that has gained a loyal following among Linux enthusiasts and everyday computer users alike.

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