Linux Mint

Reader supplied reviews for Linux Mint Average rating 8.9 from 1046 review(s) What are your thoughts on Linux Mint? Please include a few pros and a few cons, along with your overall impression of the operating system. Our FAQ page has tips on writing a good mini-review. Version: -- 22.37-LMDE6-LMDE21.35-LMDE20.34-LMDE19.318.317.316151413121110987654.03.13.02.22.12.0 Rating:    -- 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 out of 10 Your review (minimum 250 words): Past reviews - sort by: DateVotes Version: 7-LMDE Rating: 10 Date: 2026-09-27 Country: Japan Votes: 7 I have long appreciated the MATE desktop environment. While I previously used the MATE edition of Linux Mint, I wanted a MATE setup based on Debian—---free from Ubuntu-specific elements. After reading a review from someone who had switched their LMDE desktop to MATE, I decided to try it myself. (I felt Cinnamon was a bit too sophisticated for my tastes. Also, having used MATE’s Caja and Pluma for years, I couldn't quite get comfortable with Nemo and Xed, even though I recognized their utility.) I successfully switched from Cinnamon to MATE. Following the advice in the review above, I removed all the Cinnamon-specific components. (Interestingly Xed remained undeleted——a pleasant surprise.) When using MATE in the past, I generally took a "subtractive" approach——removing apps I didn't use often or replacing them with others. I did so for my 7-LMDE. (For instance, with LibreOffice, I kept only Writer and Calc.) In fact, prior to this, I had installed a "pure" Debian MATE edition. That process was not very easy to me. I couldn't easily find the MATE ISO, and configuring the language settings for my region after installation was not so simple. While I was satisfied with the pure Debian MATE environment, I felt default selection of installed applications was somewhat sparse. Consequently I had to take an "additive" approach with that system. Comparing the two——LMDE (subtractive) versus Debian MATE (additive)——and considering factors like facility of installation and the out-of-the-box experience, I prefer LMDE. For instance, it makes configuring the language settings very easy. I look forward to applying to this new LMDE the workflow customisations I developed with Linux Mint MATE and Ubuntu MATE. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 22.3 Rating: 10 Date: 2026-09-19 Country: United States Votes: 26 Wasn't sure how Linux Mint's revised release schedule would work out. But keeping up to date on security patches and installing worthwhile software updates as they become available has increased my level of confidence in the course that Clem and his team have charted for Mint into the foreseeable future. After two decades of using Linux Mint for every need I have in the graphic design field, along with keeping up with the world around me and enjoying all that I've learned in the process, looking back on the day in 2006 when I first tried out Linux Mint and decided then and there that the end of my days with Windows were rapidly approaching, the following 20 years have been, computing wise, the best years of my life! Over the years I've had people say, "you don't know what you've missed not staying with Windows all these years." When I explain that in fact I know exactly what I've missed, and I'm thankful to have been on the rock solid 'Linux Mint side of the fence' watching Windows self destruct in slow motion from a safe distance! For the most part, over the years people have simply walked away shaking their heads, wondering how anyone gets anything done without depending on Windows or MacOS to provide what they've come to see as an expensive reality of modern life that they have no idea how they'd live without. Lately and at long last, with Windows 11 providing all the evidence that people need, evidence they simply can't ignore any longer, the massive 'ice dam' that the decades long Windows landslide created, and the equally massive lake of PC users trapped behind it, has finally been breached -- with the trickle over the top steadily increasing, and desktop Linux use growing daily in impressive numbers. Where this massive shift leads, and how it will effect personal computing in the years ahead, remains to be seen. But as I watch from my hilltop vantage point, secure in my use of Linux Mint these past 20 years, if the flow over the top of that Microsoft ice dam continues to increase at the current rate, Linux users can be glad they're not down in the valley below that weakening structure! We've all seen what being in the downstream valley when the upstream ice dam weakens and falls apart leads to, and it's not a pretty sight. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 22.3 Rating: 10 Date: 2026-09-16 Country: Australia Votes: 18 I returned to Mint from a 10-year hiatus as Windows 11 has gone down the drain. Did not disappoint. The learning curve is not as steep as before and time has provided plenty of support online for one to self-troubleshoot. As others have said. Mint prioritises ultimate stability over the flashiest and shiniest blinks, so don't expect bleeding-edge drivers or sleek, modern, gaming-oriented UI. Highly recommend dual-booting alongside Windows 11 (on a separate physical drive if you can afford it) if you need a functional, non-intrusive, non-spying OS for productivity tasks (or heck, just watching Youtube, streaming movies and listening to music), AND want to play the latest and greatest video games at the same time (Windows unfortunately is still ahead in this space). Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 1046 reader reviews of Linux Mint...