Linux Mint Live CD

I make it no secret that I love Ubuntu, and usually love any offshoot of the project.  Linux Mint is supposed to be a more user friendly variation of Ubuntu.  I gave Revision 1 of  Linux Mint 5 Elyssa Main Edition a test run and it was less stable than I anticipated for a revision of a release edition, but it does show promise.  Read on to find out more.

I expected a lot from Linux Mint, it being an Ubuntu derivative and all, but I may have set my expectations a little high.  One thing that I loved right away was the revamped start menu that is one of Linux Mint’s key features.  It makes it a lot easier to locate programs and files.

One little GUI difference between Ubuntu and Linux Mint is that by default the title bars are transparent. Sure this makes almost no difference in using the operating system, but I like it.

Another advantage of Linux Mint over Ubuntu is the easy installation of programs. I’m not saying that installing programs in Ubuntu is difficult, but Linux Mint takes the process and just makes it a little more straight forward. It has its own software portal website that lets you browse the available software for easy installation.

I also like how the software updates are prioritized, sure this means almost nothing, but it looks cool.

Now for the problems I have with the release copy, not so much the OS itself, just stability issues. After I downloaded and installed all the updates available, it just kept telling me to download and install the same updates.

These update errors also caused some problems in one of my favorite and most used programs, Firefox.

I think Linux MInt should be fine once these little bugs are worked out, but what it really comes down to is that I don’t think I would use Linux Mint over Ubuntu, maybe I’ve just gotten used to doing some things for myself that Linux Mint does for you. I can see how Linux Mint might be better than Ubuntu for first time Linux users and might make for a good transition from Windows to Linux, but you won’t see me using Linux Mint again any time soon.

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