Mint Replaces Ubuntu as Top OS in distrowatch

[karandpr]

Mint replaced Ubuntu in the 6 months hpd rankings
DistroWatch.com: Put the fun back into computing. Use Linux, BSD.

Here is the reason why

Spoiler

Mint 12 Lisa/MGSE is gonna be awesome .
2 days to go for the RC release

 

[SUroot]

I cant see the reason why from that image alone. Care to elaborate

 

[karandpr]

Basically Mint Gnome Shell extensions is GNOME 3 which also maintains the functionality of older GNOME 2.32 .
Mint 11 saw a drastic jump in users .


Quotes from the Preview Post


Gnome 3 and MGSE

Spoiler

Gnome 3 is shiny, elegant and modern looking. It’s a sleek desktop but it comes with a few problems:

It changes the way people use their computer
It’s application-centric, not task-centric (you switch between applications, not windows)
It doesn’t do multi-tasking well (you can’t see opened windows, system tray icons, etc..)
We’ve been using application menus, window lists and other traditional desktop features for as far as I can remember. It looked different in KDE, Xfce, or even Windows and Mac OS, but it was similar. Gnome 3 is changing all that and is developing a better way for us to interact with our computer. From our point of view here at Linux Mint, we’re not sure they’re right, and we’re not sure they’re wrong either. What we’re sure of, is that if people aren’t given the choice they will be frustrated and our vision of an Operating System is that your computer should work for you and make you feel comfortable. So with this in mind, Gnome 3 in Linux Mint 12 needs to let you interact with your computer in two different ways: the traditional way, and the new way, and it’s up to you to decide which way you want to use.

For this, we developed “MGSE” (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions), which is a desktop layer on top of Gnome 3 that makes it possible for you to use Gnome 3 in a traditional way. You can disable all components within MGSE to get a pure Gnome 3 experience, or you can enable all of them to get a Gnome 3 desktop that is similar to what you’ve been using before. Of course you can also pick and only enable the components you like to design your own desktop.

Features of MGSE

Spoiler

The main features in MGSE are:

The bottom panel
The application menu
The window list
A task-centric desktop (i.e. you switch between windows, not applications)
Visible system tray icons
MGSE also includes additional extensions such as a media player indicator, and multiple enhancements to Gnome 3.

Spoiler

As you can see it’s a mix of old and new. It’s a brand new desktop but with traditional components. We’re excited about the new technology but it’s important everyone feels at home. So a Mint desktop looks and behaves like a Mint desktop and this one feels both like Gnome 3 and the traditional Linux Mint desktops that preceded it. You can launch applications from the top left, easily switch between applications and workspaces using the window list or keyboard shortcuts, keep an eye on your notifications at the top and access Gnome 3 features like “activities” from the top-left corner.

The Fallback Mode
Gnome 3 requires video acceleration and that is something most systems have. In Linux Mint 12 we also made sure you could run Gnome 3 within Virtualbox, so if you enable 3D acceleration within your virtual machine, you should be able to enjoy Gnome 3 and MGSE without any additional drivers.

If you’re unlucky though, you’ll land into the “Fallback Mode”.

Do not be mistaken about the “Fallback Mode”, despite its looks, it has nothing to do with Gnome 2! It’s a Gnome 3 component and it’s completely incompatible with technologies such as Bonobo panel applets. It’s named appropriately as the “Fallback Mode” and it’s set to disappear eventually as Gnome 3 will gain more and more hardware compatibility.

MATE

Spoiler

MATE
MATE is a fork of Gnome 2.32, it looks and behaves exactly as Gnome 2.

The problem with Gnome 2.32 is that it conflicts with Gnome 3. It creates a lot of problems within the repositories and it would not be possible for users to run both Gnome 2 and Gnome 3. MATE on the other hand is supposed to be compatible with it. So you could have both MATE and Gnome 3 installed on your computer and be able to switch between desktops from the login screen.

In practice, MATE is a brand new project and it does conflict with Gnome 3 in many areas. We’re currently working hard in collaboration with the MATE developers to identify and fix these conflicts so that we can have both Gnome 3 and MATE installed by default on the DVD edition of Linux Mint 12.

Another issue with MATE is that, to be compatible with Gnome (3), it had to rename most of itself, and as a consequence, applications and themes that were developed for Gnome 2 need to be migrated towards MATE to become compatible with it.

Conflicts with Gnome and the migrations of applications and themes are easy to fix. So if MATE makes it to our liveDVD, it’s likely to come with some rough edges but with your feedback we’ll be able to solve most problems very quickly.

The original article
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1851

 

[johnlgalt]

Ooohh, Shiny!

And yeah, backward compatibility is gonna be a huge deal with those who just don't like shiny things.

 

[9to5cynic]

Cool. Good for them, one of my favorite linux distros. I like the hassle free nature of LM. Not having to deal with mp3/restricted extras (though, now you can do that during install), compiz always works out of the box (though, not well on my netbook )

Cool cool cool. I'm excited for this release.

Spoiler

Though, I am much more excited for SKYRIM!

 

[SUroot]

To be honest by the time I went to Ubuntu, It was Unity desktop, which I liked so never use anything else.

 

[andruoid]

Numbers on DistroWatch fluctuate daily.

I used Mint from 9 to 11, 11 was on a desktop I had at the time. However, using Ubuntu 11.10 right now as its the only distro that works without any wireless issues. I rather like Unity too.

 

[DaSchmarotzer]

Is it me or does it look like OSX? I don't get why it's so awesome, the "dock" at the bottom reminds me of Win XP and is way too crowded for my taste. I use Windows 7 daily, but I might start using Linux since I think Windows 8 is terrible (I dual-boot Windows 7 and 8). Or I might just stick to seven just like many people did with XP (which I didn't understand TBH).

EDIT: I didn't think about it, but I booted from an Android disc on my laptop quite a while ago. It's not exactly a viable solution though.

 

[9to5cynic]

I still have XP, installed it on a vista laptop because it is less resource hungry (and MS keeps bugging me about my 7 activation.... blah, it's legit, but I'm not calling in to tech support at 3am when I'm installing OSs...).

That being said, I'm going to be trying out LFS pretty soon, I have the files, but with Skyrim coming out tomorrow (2hours), I'll be busy this weekend

 

[karandpr]

Choose your poison .In other news Fedora 16 Verne and Sabayon 7 have also been released .

EDIT: I didn't think about it, but I booted from an Android disc on my laptop quite a while ago. It's not exactly a viable solution though.

Android GB is painful on PC . I dont want to see it again. lol

That being said, I'm going to be trying out LFS pretty soon, I have the files, but with Skyrim coming out tomorrow (2hours), I'll be busy this weekend

 

[karandpr]

The Mint 12 has released .If anyone is interested .


The Linux Mint Blog Blog Archive Linux Mint 12 “Lisa” released!

 

[9to5cynic]

Cool cool cool, I'll be downloading that monday.

 

[SoulTerror]

I might check this out. I don't really like the newest version of Ubuntu.

 

[zflamewing]

I haven't dabbled with Ubuntu or Mint. My "nix dabblings have been primarily Free BSD and CentOS. I've played with CentOS most recently as it's very close to RHEL and that's what a lot of companies are using these days for their non windows production environments. I think I have enough hardware floating about to scrounge together a system with one of the last gen single core AMD64's and 2GB of RAM. I have to look at Mint when I do.

 

[zuben el genub]

I don't like Unity. I managed to get the plain desktop back on 11.04. I couldn't resize those stupid icons or delete the ones I didn't want nevermind putting them in an order I wanted. I don't give a damn if the desktop can do 3D or whistle Dixie. I want plain gray and menus where I can get what I want. The applications get priority so why waste resources for a desktop?

Windows has never used fancy backgrounds and I toss all the sounds. I hate the damn computer making noises at me.

And who decided that Ubuntu had to look like a Mac? Why not Android?

 

[zflamewing]

@zuben el genub have you looked at a windows manager like fluxbox? I'm not sure if the project is still being developed but it was a very light weight windows manager that pretty minimal and built a lot of it's application launching around a right click to activate menu system. I used it a good bit when I was using a graphical interface for Unix and Linux. Might be worth looking into.

 

[richphitzwell]

I still have XP, installed it on a vista laptop because it is less resource hungry (and MS keeps bugging me about my 7 activation.... blah, it's legit, but I'm not calling in to tech support at 3am when I'm installing OSs...).

That being said, I'm going to be trying out LFS pretty soon, I have the files, but with Skyrim coming out tomorrow (2hours), I'll be busy this weekend

U can easily customize LINUX to look however you want it to...plenty of options out there so u dont have to know LINUX at all.

As for Ms have you right clicked on computer, properties,activate?

As for mint overtaking ubuntu, ya unity has annoyed alot of people

 

[9to5cynic]

U can easily customize LINUX to look however you want it to...plenty of options out there so u dont have to know LINUX at all.
Yep, linux is very customizable. However, I wouldn't go fiddling around with all the system options without knowing what you are doing. That is a good way to break things.
As for Ms have you right clicked on computer, properties,activate?
Yes, my 7 serial was a re-install. They wanted me to place a call to activate, so I decided to just use a spare xp serial.
As for mint overtaking ubuntu, ya unity has annoyed alot of people

Reply in bold.

 

[richphitzwell]

Reply in bold.

LINUX has a hugecommunity that has software thatis simply awsome without needing to mess around with core systems.

If you are legit with win then it doesent matter. Call them.takes 3 minutes to get it over with

 

[9to5cynic]

LINUX has a hugecommunity that has software thatis simply awsome without needing to mess around with core systems.

If you are legit with win then it doesent matter. Call them.takes 3 minutes to get it over with

True, there is a lot of software easily available, but for inexperienced users, it is very easy to create problems. Of course, solving those problems is a fast track to understanding your operating system.

Yeah, it might be a phone call away, but my xp disk was a foot away. And with my old system, the lower resource requirement fits better.

 

[karandpr]

Ironically I know some folks who like Linux more than Windows .They aren't tech savvy but they find KDE (OpenSuse) lot lot better than windows . It's just a matter of habit and laziness I think .

Mint has trounced Ubu in the 12 month ranking now !!!! turns out Mint has currently 3 time hpd than Ubuntu !!Could it be Ubuntu will be displaced after 6 years ?

The distrowatch rankings

2002 : Mandrake
2003 : Mandrake
2004 : Mandrake
2005 : Ubuntu
2006 : Ubuntu
2007 : Ubuntu
2008 : Ubuntu
2009 : Ubuntu
2010 : Ubuntu

Clem claimed that Unity has resulted i sudden rise in Mint users .

 

[richphitzwell]

True, there is a lot of software easily available, but for inexperienced users, it is very easy to create problems. Of course, solving those problems is a fast track to understanding your operating system.

Yeah, it might be a phone call away, but my xp disk was a foot away. And with my old system, the lower resource requirement fits better.

Ill leave it at a definite maybe on the linux part but the same can be said for anything.
As for XP ya that was wins big issue with their assuming guilt. Like I said call get it over with but youare far from being special in that regard. Cheers

 

[9to5cynic]

@karandpr:
Nice, I believe it could easily happen. Unity seemed very off putting to me (especially with the original release). I know a lot of people who were upset by it, and I can see why - it is a fundamental change from what they know.

As much as I try to like KDE, I just can't. Especially on laptops. I'll have to try it again sometime soon. I like linux more than windows, but linux doesn't really care too much for most dial up modems... (especially mine).

@rich:
That's true, but most inexperienced users really don't dabble too much with system configurations that much anyway.
(and I don't know where the topic of customizing the GUI came from..?)

 

[karandpr]

@9to5cynic
probably from zuben's reply on why unity is more like mac and not android (android ?? )
Unity looks more like a launcher actually .Androidish enough .

 

[9to5cynic]

@9to5cynic
probably from zuben's reply on why unity is more like mac and not android (android ?? )
Unity looks more like a launcher actually .Androidish enough .

Ahh yep. That's probably it.
Yeah, I'm not a big fan of it myself, though, I think that the old gnome 2 theme towards the end of ubuntu using it (somewhere around 10.4 maybe) was very OSX-ish to me. The rounded corners, control buttons on the left of the windows, etc..

And I'm still looking into LFS, but I'm thinking I'll go with Arch first. Unfortunately, I had an issue with my VM and it didn't quite work out. Though, I'll probably just remove fedora and put on this new LM...