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diff --git a/mint181review.txt b/mint181review.txt index c92be52..2bf4a58 100644 --- a/mint181review.txt +++ b/mint181review.txt @@ -1,22 +1,20 @@ -The Linux Mint project dropped a last minute holiday gift on the world in the form of Linux Mint 18.1 +The Linux Mint project dropped a last minute holiday gift on the world in the form of Linux Mint 18.1. -As with the previous cycle of Mint 17.x releases, Mint 18.1 builds on the same Ubuntu 16.04 LTS release base as Mint 18.0. The result is a smooth upgrade path for 18.0 users and the relative stability of Ubuntu's latest LTS effort, 16.04. +As with the previous cycle of Mint 17.x releases, Mint 18.1 builds on the same Ubuntu LTS release base as Mint 18.0. The result is a smooth upgrade path for 18.0 users and the relative stability of Ubuntu's latest LTS effort, 16.04. Mint's goal in sticking with Ubuntu's LTS releases is that instead of chasing Ubuntu updates, the project can focus on its own efforts like the homegrown Cinnamon and MATE desktops, as well as the new X-Apps set of default applications. This process worked quite well throughout the Mint 17.x release cycle, but with Mint 18 we're starting to see some of the downsides. Mint 18.1 is a nice enough update for the Mint-specific parts of the stack, but it definitely lags a bit in some other areas. The most obvious lag is in the kernel which is 4.4 out of the box, though 4.8 is available through the Mint repos. It's unclear to me whether Mint 18.1 fully supports kernel 4.8. It's available in the repos, and I've successfully updated one install on a Lenovo x240, but n=1 evidence is not the best support for running off to update your kernel. -Frankly I would have to assume that since Mint 18.1 ships with 4.4 you should probably stick with 4.4. If you feel out of date with 4.4, maybe install Debian 8 in a virtual machine and marvel at the fact that it still uses 3.16. - -Of course if you don't have newish hardware -- particularly Skylake or Kaby Lake based machines -- the older kernel might not matter to you. +Frankly I would have to assume that since Mint 18.1 ships with 4.4 you should probably stick with 4.4. If you feel out of date with 4.4, maybe install Debian 8 in a virtual machine and marvel at the fact that it still uses 3.16. Of course if you don't have newish hardware -- particularly Skylake or Kaby Lake based machines -- the older kernel might not matter to you. Provided the older kernel doesn't bother you, or you're okay attempting a kernel update, Mint 18.1 does a nice job of continuing to refine the Linux Mint experience for both its primary desktops -- Cinnamon and MATE. -On the Cinnamon side you'll get Cinnamon 3.2, which is notable for some nice new UI features, including support for vertical panels, sound effects along with your displaying notifications and some new menu animations. Cinnamon also dispenses with a visual element called box pointers. Essential menus that load from a button or other menu no longer visual "point" back to the menu. This makes more sophisticated themes possible since developers don't have to overcome the pointer visual cue if they want to completely relocate a menu. +On the Cinnamon side you'll get Cinnamon 3.2, which is notable for some nice new UI features, including support for vertical panels and sound effects, along with your displaying notifications and some new menu animations. Cinnamon also dispenses with a visual element called box pointers. Essential menus that load from a button or other menu no longer visual "point" back to the menu. This makes more sophisticated themes possible since developers don't have to overcome the pointer visual cue if they want to completely relocate a menu. The vertical panels support is also welcome for anyone working on a cramped laptop screen, since they're typically more unused space horizontally than vertically. -Cinnamon 3.2 also has a completely re-written screensaver and my personal favorite the ability to run apps with optirun if Bumblebee is installed. That is, if you have dual graphics cards and bumblebee installed you can set the default to the less powerful card, but then right-click an item in the menu and launch it with the more powerful card, for example GIMP, a video editor, or graphics-intensive game. +Cinnamon 3.2 also has a completely re-written screensaver and, my personal favorite, the ability to run apps with optirun if Bumblebee is installed. That is, if you have dual graphics cards and Bumblebee installed you can set the default to the less powerful card, but then right-click an item in the menu and launch it with the more powerful card, for example GIMP, a video editor, or graphics-intensive game. While Cinnamon is the flashier of Linux Mint's two desktops, MATE is every bit as good in my experience and with Linux Mint 18.1 MATE has been updated to MATE 1.16. Most of what's new in MATE 1.16 is under the hood, particularly the fact that MATE has nearly finished the transition to GTK+ 3 components, which goes a long way to improving some of the lingering little UI problems of previous releases. |