Review: Linux Mint 7 (Page 1 of 1)
Written by
Steve Lake
Posted on: Jun 10, 2009 at 12:35pm
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Linux Mint is one of those distributions that not only has a big parent, and an even bigger grandparent, but it's also a distribution that has always improved, and never failed to impress. But everything that goes up must at some point come down.
So, does version 7 continue Mint's continual upward swing of greatness, or has the distribution stumbled and faulted? Well, you might be surprised at the answer, and then again, you might not. So without further adieu, let's get a look at Linux Mint 7!
LiveCD
Upon first booting up the LiveCD, you're greeted with the typical auto boot screen that counts down from ten before automatically starting the system boot. If you hit enter, it will expose the default grub boot menu.
For the last couple of versions, there really hasn't been much of a change here. But with version 7, Mint now comes with a "Start the installer only" option. Since Mint is based on Ubuntu, having this new feature here is not surprising in the least.
Selecting the "Start the installer only" option sends you through a standard bootup cycle, and then drops you straight into the installer with no desktop, just the installer. But we'll save that for later.
The LiveCD boots up on a fairly reasonable amount of time and loads into a slightly newer, more eyecandied desktop with a brand new wallpaper, a new tasty menu (they're finally calling it the "mint menu"), and a ton of new features. And that's one thing that Mint always is good for is new features.
No matter how many times they've done this, they always have something new waiting for you, and the new features never seem to disappoint. In total there are ten major improvements, over a dozen minor improvements, and even more background feature improvements too numerous to list.
Of all the improvements, some are new features, some are simply upgrades of existing features and/or programs. But all together, they make for a very enjoyable experience. One of the obviously most notable is the theme change. It's got a dark, almost KDE4 feel to it, save for the fact that KDE leans towards blue, and this is heavily black and green.
But all the same, it's still got that newer UI feel to it very similar to KDE4. But before you panic, if you're a Gnome fan, don't worry, Mint didn't dump Gnome and switch to KDE. The KDE community edition is still there, and so is the main Gnome based branch, which is what we're looking at today.
The only similarity between them, other than the underlying OS and features, is the general look. And if you're curious, Mint 7 ships with Linux Kernel 2.6.28, Gnome 2.26 and Xorg 7.4. So no need to panic about loosing Gnome. It's still there.
But anywho, moving on. Upon beginning to explore this distro, you might find yourself immediately struck by the new layout of the Mint Menu. In my observations of other users who have just recently jumped into Mint 7, there's been both praise and dissension on the new layout.
I for one would like to side with the "like it" crowd, as I am quite pleased with the way that the "favorites" section is put into greater focus. For someone who's new to Linux, or Mint, this is a very useful feature. Just think. If you only use a handful of applications, everything you need is just two clicks away.
And if you want to get to your other applications, just click on "All Applications" at the top to get to the main program list. Done playing there, then just click again and go back to favorites. I really find this quite handy, as the favorites section can hold up to 12 applications that are ready to use with just a click of a mouse.
Something else that's nice in this default favorites list is the presence of the "Screen Resolution" link. I can't tell you how many people complained that it was hard to find the link, and then make the changes to one's screen resolution. Mint 7 solves that in a heartbeat. It's quite nice to see.
Another nice feature in the menu is the combination of the newbie friendly, easier to use "Software Manager" (Mint Install) and the more powerful, but slightly more complex "Package Manager" (Synaptic) side by side (well, technically over/under) followed by the very easy to use Control Center. This I believe will make it even quicker for new users to get into these areas and make use of them.
And the new Mint Menu isn't done yet. You can actually compact the menu down if you like, removing the sections you don't want, and leaving those you do. To remove one, simply click on it's title bar. To add it back, click on the icon on the side. There's also a very cool addition to the filter feature that gives you suggestions on possible actions you may want to do.
Another interesting surprise this time around is the fact that the number of packages needing upgrading upon install is much smaller (less than 1/3rd what 6.0 had at launch) and only sports 66 entries. I know that some of this is caused by the ever evolving applications included with Mint vs it's code freeze prior to launch, but to see that they were able to launch quickly enough to avoid the embarrassingly large list of necessary updates upon release.
The list of available applications is still impressive, and appears to have grown somewhat, as a large number of very useful utility applications have found their way onto the system, as well as upgraded versions of a wide range of old standbys, such as Open Office, Firefox and more.
General usability of the LiveCD is good. Load times are not spectacular, but they're quite good for a LiveCD environment. The system in general feels as though it is built with slightly more powerful hardware in mind than my test rig has. But that's not all that bad, since being as old as it is, you kinda come to expect it to be a bit on the slow side. But given how it still performs, despite the dated hardware, is a good thing.
InstallationVersion 7 of Linux Mint incorporates the brand new updated Ubuntu installer. While this is still the same old installer you love and trust, it's gotten a bit of a facelift, and while still just as easy to use as before, it's got a few differences in it that you'll want to pay attention to.
Total install time is actually slightly better than it was for Mint 6, which might be due to the upgraded installer. Even if it's not, there is a noticeable improvement in total install time. Otherwise, everything in the install process is pretty textbook. So nothing new to report here.
OverviewFirst time boot is actually very good with a marked speed improvement in the boot times. Upon reaching the desktop, you're greeted with an interesting surprise called "Mint Welcome". This is a little welcome screen that gives first time users some options to choose from. You can set this to run each time you load the desktop, or you can turn it off if you like.
Now, once you're on the desktop for the first time one of the first things you'll want to do is update. And right away you'll see one of the little things that's improved in this version over the last. And it's something that will make a huge difference in your annoyance level. And what is that? Well, Mint Update used to have a blinking icon every time it checked for new updates.
I can't tell you how annoying that got. In fact, I finally reached a point where I just turned it off whenever I booted up. But that's a thing of the past now. Gone is the blinking icon when it's checking for updates, which should bring a sigh of relief to anyone who grew to hate it.
First time package update goes pretty smoothly, with Mint Update getting everything upgraded on the first try with quite a bit of speed and no glitches. It looks like most of the upgrades are lib files, but there are a few pre-installed applications that get upgrades as well.
And speaking of applications, MintInstall has a new feature that lists for you a selection of favorite applications, as voted on by the Mint community. These are the top 10-25 most important applications (not already installed) that you may need for your system. Instead of having to spend time searching through Synaptic or Mint Install to find them, they're all listed there for you on one convenient page. Just point, click, install.
Mint Install's main interface has also undergone some improvements, making it even easier for you to install applications onto your system. Again, Mint Install isn't anywhere near as powerful as Synaptic, but that's not the point. Mint Install focuses on ease of use, not power. So for a newbie user, it's perfect. For everyone else, there's Synaptic. (wow, that sounded like a Mastercard Slogan. Lol)
Mint Install's "more info" window also provides quite a bit more information about an application than it used to, allowing a new user to get a nice rundown on each application, what it's used for, and why it might be beneficial for them to have it.
Mint Update has undergone some nice, albeit minor improvements. The first, as mentioned before, is the fact that the flashing icon is gone. While I understand that it had its uses, I believe the annoyance factor far out weighted the benefits. Thus I'm glad to see the blinking icon gone.
Now one thing I would like to see in it's place is a blinking alert. Not a big, flashy, annoying thing, but rather something that blinks for 30sec to a minute every either 15 minutes or half hour to remind the user to update. If the user doesn't want to update right then, a simple "disable alert for xx amount of time" option would be useful. Again, these are suggestions, but it does balance the need for alerting the user to the availability of updates vs annoying them to death.
Another addition is that Mint Update now supports changelogs. This little addition allows you to see all the changes that have been made to the particular package so you can see if the update affects you in any way. The developers have also added size listings to Mint Update so you can see how much bandwidth each install will take.
Mint Upload has also seen some nice improvements as well. This is a little graphical tool to make uploading to certain sites and file hosting services easier. One of these is the addition of graphical configuration for upload services. I don't know why this wasn't there to begin with, but it is now.
Another big difference, also as mentioned before, is the improvement in the artwork, desktop and general look. Mint is now using a brand new icon scheme called "Gnome Colors". This mixed with the darker KDE4'ish theme really gives it an interesting, darker, more exciting look.
Other important, but minor updates includes the simplifying of Mint Desktop, the replacement of Xchat-Gnome with just plain jane Xchat (this will be a big hit with irc fans), a number of command line feature improvements, as well as a long list of other upstream improvements inherited from Ubuntu 9.04, such as better notifications, faster boot times, enhanced suspend-and-resume and better switching between Wi-Fi and 3G connections.
With all these improvements, and the new features, faster speeds and more, I'm really finding the new Mint 7 to be a welcome improvement over Mint 6 (It was good, but 7 is better.). It not only feels faster, but you can easily get more done, plus with the long list of available applications, you just need to boot, click, and work.
Another thing that helps this is the spectacular hardware support Mint has (compliments of Ubuntu) which really simplifies things and allows you to get up to speed very quickly after completing your install and updates.
ConclusionOverall, I'm very impressed with Linux Mint 7. It's once again outdone itself and easily holds the title as one of the best new user distributions out there. When I first loaded it up, I was worried that they had reached their pinnacle and Mint 7 would be their first step down as every distro does after a while. Some just sooner than others.
But nope, Mint 7 is still climbing the mountain to bigger, better, greater, faster, and more awesome than all of it's predecessors. It's always encouraging to see a distro always getting better, despite how good it was before.
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