Linux Mint 5 Elyssa

that's it :) i'm leaving brownie ubuntu and now i'll get mint.

Yes, I liked the Mint5 review, specially your use of some basic rules to measure all distros. It makes it easier for newbies and discontented MS users to understand what Linux is about. I just loaded Mint5 into my second system, with no problems. I found the new Mint5 User Guide, in pdf format, really provides the info needed to understand this release. Remember that this edition is LTS, a Long Term Support = next 3 years. Thanks to Clem and all the Mint workers.

At last a reviewer with some balls, and a mind of their own.
A really good review in every all aspects. I'm not a so called newbie but hate that word. Every thing should be as simple as possible that's what every developer should be aiming for and Linux needs that to survive and keep growing in popularity.

yes well youve talked me into it too. Hope I can get my telstra wireless nextG adsl modem working tho. then i can kick vista...

Excellent review. Thanks for the perspective. I look forward to reading your reviews in the future.

I do have one critical note though. You said "Mint feels quicker and smoother than a bog-standard Ubuntu." While I can't disagree because I don't have numbers, some data would be nice. It's already been proven that certain non-speed related details (like a splash screen) can give the appearance of quickness. Maybe next time you can use a stopwatch and measure the time from the grub selection to usable desktop, and maybe also the first-launch of Firefox and OpenOffice. IMHO, that would add a great deal of credibility.

Regardless, this really was a great review. Thanks!

bye bye brownie! Hello minty! :-)

bye bye brownie! Hello minty!

A nice review. Everything was right on except for the speed of the distro and the command prompt story. I'm not sure what you did but I've got Mint 5 and Ubuntu 8.04 installed on the same machine and Mint is a little more sluggish for some reason. I'm really surprised that a lot of people are still turned off by the command prompt. I know of no operating system or distro where if you want to get down to the guts of it does not use the command prompt. It is not an evil thing and you shouldn't make out like it is. Maybe a person shouldn't have to use the command prompt for day to day use but it is a very useful tool and to say a person should never have to use the command prompt is misleading at best. Mint is a first rate distro and that is what I usually install on new user systems. I'm sure it will get even better.

I loaded up Mint on a test box when it came out and I was blown away by how much it has improved since the last time I looked at it (over a year ago). Yes indeed, it does seem quicker than Ubuntu, and the visuals are nicer out of the box. It looks the part of a professional product.

For the last couple months I've been trying every new distribution that piques my interest, looking both for the nifty as well as for a system that I can use at work - dual booting with WindowsXP for the one or two apps that I need that work only in (or better in) Windows.

For some reason I keep coming back to the buntu's. I think it's because of the massive software repositories more than anything (the less that I have to muck about building from source, the less testy I am). Both that and I seem to always gravitate to Debian derivatives, of which Ubuntu has become the gold standard.

The new Ubuntu was fantastic, and Mint is even better. It's like the final polish that Ubuntu lacks.

When I get my new work laptop this summer, I'll be loading Mint.

Though I'll still be trying out other distributions to see if any of them click with me better.

Good review, by the way. We need more such articles by regular working folk, rather than gearheads.

Many forget that the vast majority of people use a computer to do work WITH, rather than work ON the operating system.

The OS is, fundamentally, merely a framework for interacting with I/O devices and running software.

Yes Linux Mint is a great distro. I enjoy setting up Slackware and Arch but my main distro is Mint because of it's ease of use. I hope The Elitist attitude in linux never really ends because that's what made linux what it is today. I think there's room for the Geek and Newbie Distros. That's what Linux is all about Freedom of Choice

This is a great review, especially for users who are not as experienced but may be thinking about making the move to a Linux desktop. Great job!

This is not a review, but a fair attempt at one. A review should actually be unbiased and critical. This was neither. I dont get the above comment about "finally, a review with a mind of his own" because this was nothing but a fanboi rant. I like Mint too, but I realize that its roots are firmly planted in whatever Ubuntu gives them, and with no Ubuntu, Mint does not exist. Of course that means too that with no Debian, all bets are off!

Say whatever you like, but Mint IS Ubuntu, far more than Ubuntu IS Debian. Mint is a distro in its own right though, because it does offer its own package manager and software repo's while still heavily relying on those of Ubuntu. Its an identity crises of sorts, because a true distro stands on its own legs, while Mint can only partially do so. Sabayon Linux went through the same growing pains and now they are forking. Perhaps the Mint team can learn a thing or two from Fabio eh?

Mint it's nice and no hassle alternative to Ubuntu.

Much worse it's with their XFCE, KDE and other community editions, which usually finish in beta stage on arrival of new Ubuntu :(

LinuxMint 5 is really great

i agree, it is refreshing to here a review that deals with what the average would be convert needs to know about linux. i myself have been a linux user for many years and find it insulting to be called a newbie because i haven't posted 10,000 posts in some distro's forums. Linux Mint is a great distro and there is no need for the esoteric, cryptic scripting to install a program in 2008.

After reading your review ;
I used my Acer Aspire 5610 on XP platform at home for suring the net , sending emails and listening music , multimedia etc.That makes me a member of the largest desktop usergroup with little system knowledge.
At office I use XP with the usual Office suit.When I come home , all I do is the surfing the net with my Laptop.
I installed Ubuntu in March this year by double booting my Laptop.

It was until the day before yesterday I single booted my Laptop only with Mint Elyssa shortly later I had finished reading your review . Do I miss XP now ? Absolutely not.
The desktop is as fast as XP and I am not using any anti virus things anymore. I even installed E17 desktop which much prettier than XP.
Linux Mint is the perfect OS for the ordinary people like me who make the 90% of the consumers. Thanks and Long live Linux Mint for eventually understanding what people want.

I like the review. I am a newbie and this reads to my point of view. The ten aspects are important to me and includes a few things I had not considered.

Good job. I plan on downloading Mint 5 today.

I agree w/the reveiw except for the support forum. Probably becuase they dont have enough strong user base, you are better off asking questions on the Ubuntu forum where you will get help alot faster.

dr

I don't see much difference between Mint 5 and Ubuntu 8.04. It took about 15 extra minutes to install the required codecs and medibuntu repository on Ubuntu to bring it up to speed , but I don't like Mint's menu so spent 10 minutes removing it and activating Gnome default menus (aka Ubuntu). The colours can be changed in a wink and I use photo backgrounds in any case. Installing compiz manager was an extra step in Ubuntu admittedly but Mint Update works errrratically at times (as it did in Mint4, and I find Ubuntu 'feels' more stable in this regard [hugely subjective I admit].

As for the extras available in the Mint repositories, I can't see anything vital and the Mint online repository is like CNR in my view - unecessary.

Finally Ubuntu 8.04 s LTS and backed by huge financial and human resources. Mint is a much smaller op and may not still be around in 3 years time when I need a new OS, so why bother with Mint?

Nice, clean, crisp, full bodied with a hint of a mint aftertaste.
Great distro.

I must say Mint 3.0 was the first distribution I really used , the one that convinced me to permanently switch to Linux on one of my computers. Later I tried Ubuntu Gutsy when that was released, but I must say it never felt as "easy out of the box" as Mint. Now I am back to Mint...

Been using Mint 3.0 for some time now.
Just like others have mentioned, I also like the "look&feel" of Mint compared to traditional Ubuntu.

With factors like this positive review in mind, it might be the right time to - finally - leave Cassandra (Mint 3.0) and take Elyssa for a spin...

Thanks.

I used Linux Mint for a long time and was very happy with it.However, it was never as current on all UBUNTU updated. For the last few weeks I have been testing the new openSUSE 11.0 that will release in about 23 hours or so.

It has an interface as clean as Linux Mint. If you look at the number of people on the IRC channels to help with problems, it has many more than were on the LM IRC channel.

I like "KDE" and UBUNTU, and therefore Linux Mint, seem to treat it as an after thought. About 70% of the users of openSUSE go with KDE and I expect better support.

The good thing about Linux is that you have options! M$ and Apple better pay attention.

I have to agree with you. I got a new laptop (Thinkpad T61) and installed Mandriva and Linux Mint side-by-side. I'm still debating which one I like more (so far Mandriva's winning only because I like the KDE implementation Mandriva did better than GNOME). Mint is the first distro that DVDs played out-of-the-box, which really impressed me. A friend of mine wanted to install Linux and I told him Mint and he's loving it. All my hardware Just Works (T61 is an excellent Linux laptop). I think once the KDE community edition of Mint comes out, I'll be trying that out. I also really like their wallpapers. :) Anyway, just wanted to add +1 to your review.

I've been using Mint 4.0 at home and am very happy. I'm using Mint 5.0 at work and am fairly happy, but the Mint folks have some problems to overcome. 1) Mint 5 Live CD won't boot on my home system and Mint has no upgrade capabilities (I should be able to put the 5.0 CD in a working 4.0 system and upgrade from the CD like, dare I say it, you can with Windows) 2) Mint 4 and 5 work terribly through proxies. MintUpdate cannot work through my corporate proxy even though synaptic can, firefox can, wget can, etc.

In fact, I'd like to see more reviewers include a business perspective like compatibility with corporate proxies.

"Mint has no upgrade capabilities (I should be able to put the 5.0 CD in a working 4.0 system and upgrade from the CD like, dare I say it, you can with Windows)"

Often wondered about that. BTW, Ubuntu upgrades seamlessly as well or better than Windows (actually better for me). Apparently, the Mint overlay (and that is all Mint really is - a software overlay on top of Ubuntu) does not upgrade properly.. Interesting. That means a fresh install every time Mint releases?.. Thats really backwards!

I also noticed that Mint does not recognize or configure proper screen resolutions inside of a Virtualbox. Its stuck at 800x600 no matter what you do.

Unfortunately, just like Ubuntu/Kubuntu Hardy, Mint 5 wont run on my Gigabyte Mobos ( GA7N400 Pro2) with both IDE and SATA hds attached.

No solutions forthcoming from either distros forums.

I triple boot Vista[for games,system monitoring,etc.]-Arch linux[for the challenge and learning],and Linux Mint for a no-hassle linux environment.I used to regard PCLinuxOS as the easiest distro but Mint has surpassed it IMHO.It is just better organized and more logical in it's layout,etc.[compare Mint's homepage to PCLinuxOS's].It is the best distro I have found for people stuck with dial-up connections too[works great with the
TRENDnet TFM-560X/Newegg has for 24.99].Linux Mint ftw!