Linux mint is another famous computer Operating System which is based on Linux Distribution Ubuntu. Linux Mint announced its first release called "Ada” in 2006 and its latest and 14th release is "Nadia" which came on 30th November 2012 and will be supported until April 2014. Mint has very interesting way of naming its versions each uses a female first name starting with the letter whose alphabetical index corresponds to the version number and ending with the letter "a" for example version 3 started from “c” (Cassandra and Celena ). Due to license issues, proprietary drivers for hardware like wireless cards are not included by default, but nevertheless they can be downloaded easily and for free after installation of your OS. |
| LINUX MINT and MINT 14.0 |
Image Credit--> http://www.linuxmint.com/pictures/screenshots/nadia/screens/desktop.png
Linux mint like Ubuntu is released once in every 6 months but a month prior to that of Ubuntu thus it misses on the latest software which Ubuntu is able to use during that release. Mint focuses on re-installation of its all updated versions thus creating backup is essential , it also focuses on safety thus it only recommends you to install new version only if you have tested the stability. Mint prefers a customized menu rather than standard GNOME menu. It is somewhat like window’s menu so most of the users feel comfortable using it. Its UI is a result of CSS editors, to know more about it click here.
A striking similarity between mint and Ubuntu is that nearly all the softwares are compatible in both Operating system. The standard configuration of Linux Mint comes preinstalled with Adobe Flash Player, software to read proprietary files such as "wmv" files, and other software which may make it easier for inexperienced computer users to use the system without making any changes. Linux Mint includes support for additional media formats. To know more about Windows Media Players you can visit developers’ site and this post.
The new Mint 14 uses a bit of various OS like Ubuntu 12.10`’s base, Linux 3.5 kernel, Cinnamon 1.6 desktop environments and the latest versions of the MATE 1.4.Mint Images come in two categories, MATE and Cinnamon, both of them have 32 and 64-bit versions and its installation is pretty simple. According to changelog there are more than 800 changes in front end GUI that powers the OS. Mint has also added an overlay named Workspace on-screen display (OSD) which enables you to toggle between various workspaces (consider them like virtual desktop) and the best part is that you can drag even windows between these workspaces. Mint’s start menu is strikingly same as window’s vista or 7.
So for conclusion of Mint 14 , it is like rock-solid operating system where everything works and it is a one of the best example how Linux OS should be like which are easy to use and yes this OS is good for home, office or any development environment BUT this OS is certainly not social network friendly like android.