Linux Mint

Reader supplied reviews for Linux Mint Average rating 8.8 from 972 review(s) Please select a rating in the range of 1-10. Please write at least a few sentences about the distribution while limiting your review to 4080 characters. 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: 22.3 Rating: 10 Date: 2026-01-17 Votes: 22 When Mint is about to update, it always something useful and indeed stable - perfect for work. New troubleshooting instruments gives more control over the system. Previous 22.2 version was perfect for my use scenarios, this one do minor important updates (as always). Mint is not trying to be something it shouldn't be, it is always reliable and never disappoints. Nothing much to tell about this update, and that is why Mint is the best distro for work and everyday use - it's predictable, perfect. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 7-LMDE Rating: 9 Date: 2026-01-16 Votes: 11 Just installed Mint 7 LMDE on my dear old 12" Macbook Pro 8Gb Late 2012, works like an absolute dream, always been a Mint fan, also a Debian fan, so a dream that has come true for me. (MacOS not supported now on this device, or not secure, so wanted to breath life back) Like a brand new laptop now. Hooked up to monitor via HDMI cable ... bingo. Installation was easy, even for anyone who is new to Linux Mint, or a bit unsure, go for it people, it just works ... Thanks Team Mint and Distrowatch. Was this review helpful? Yes No Version: 22.3 Rating: 10 Date: 2026-01-15 Votes: 11 I first saw Linux in March 1995. That was Slackware headless. Early in '96, I found Redhat, and they had a graphic front end. I think that early one was gnome or gnome2 but I have been laughed at, so I don't know. Then we got a version of Windows that was pretty acceptable, so I just played with Linux in VMware boxes. About 2008, I had a massive security mess, which was not really M$ fault, it was mine, but it wouldn't have happened if I'd been on Linux as my daily, so I made the jump. First port was Ubuntu, which by now was all gnome2, which I liked. A few months later, they told us all 'Hey ~ look at this wonderful new thing we're experimenting with, which we call Unity.' Then over about 3 months, it went from wild idea, to shaky alpha, to BETA test, to something you could install and use, to the recommended option, to the only option. It was Unity or the highway, so I walked. At that point, I came here to distrowatch, to see what else there was, and top place on the list was a thing called Linux Mint, and Mint had a new beta release out featuring a new thing, started in Argentina or some place, called MATE, which was a fork / rebirth of the gnome2 desktop. "Shut up and take my money!" I think that was about late 2009 or early 2010, and this is what I've lived in ever since. So obviously, I rate it very highly. Historically, the install / live CD comes out before any upgrade path, but going from 22.1 -> 22.2 they swapped that around and the upgrade went live (if you knew what to look for) a couple of days before the ISO came out. Perhaps 36 hours. Same thing this time, going up to 22.3. I was running 22.3 well before mother Mint or any of the mirrors (Ok, I only checked one, aarnet in Australia) had it. Maybe the final BETA is exactly the same as the Gold file, maybe they changed it slightly, I don't know. There are a couple of new bits & pieces, but my i7-6700 non-k doesn't have a fingerprint reader so that's not a lot of use to me. A couple of the icons look slightly newer and cleaner. (Doesn't have a built-in camera either, or a trusted Microsoft Computing unit, or a Secure Boot That prevents Linux module ~ ) Note : That isn't a complaint, that's a complement. It was pretty right already and it wasn't broken so they didn't fix it. Folklore & conventional wisdom has it Mint is a good "Beginner Distro" and that's true. It's just a good distro. If you want to go advanced and very demanding, there's Slackware, there's Linux From Scratch, there's Gentoo, and slightly less 'advanced' than that, there's Arch (actually) and then there are a number of Arch based things like EndeavourOS that are very good. There's Cachy, which is conceptually similar. I have played with all these things, and I still have some of them, in VirtualBoxes, running on my host of Mint + Mate, now up to 22.3, which is very easy and very reliable and very familiar, and I wouldn't change much of anything. As far as I can see, the only reason you would want something other than Mint, would be so you could look down your long superior nose and say "I use Arch, actually." Was this review helpful? Yes No See all 972 reader reviews of Linux Mint...