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GUI Graphics Open Source Software Upgrades Linux

Cinnamon 2.6: a Massive Update Loaded With Performance Improvements 155

jones_supa writes: The Linux Mint team has just announced that Cinnamon 2.6 desktop environment is considered stable and ready to download. It is a big update. The load times have been greatly improved and unnecessary calculations in the window management part are dropped, leading to a 40% reduction in the number of CPU wakes per second. Other improvements include a screensaver that does more than just lock the screen, panels that can be removed or added individually, a much better System Settings panel that should make things much clearer, a cool new effect for windows, and a brand new plugin manager for Nemo. Linux Mint users will receive the new Cinnamon as an update by the end of the month.
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Cinnamon 2.6: a Massive Update Loaded With Performance Improvements

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  • You can change the screensaver?

    what's next? being able to change the font size? /s

  • by ArcadeMan ( 2766669 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @09:08AM (#49821371)

    Does mint even go with cinnamon? It's always chocolate+mint or apple+cinnamon...

    • by Dunbal ( 464142 ) *
      If you've ever had my lamb chops with brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger glaze covered with mint sauce, you'd know they go very well together!
      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        If you've ever had my lamb chops with brown sugar, cinnamon and ginger glaze covered with mint sauce, you'd know they go very well together!

        Oh man, I wish you wouldn't do that when I'm hungry.

      • Speaking as someone from a country that idolises lamb and mint sauce...that sounds more like a desert...

        As a non-US person I have noticed that your recipes can contain up to 5x the sugar I would ever think to put in a dish.

        I guess this is a desensitisation thing?

        The mind really does boggle...
    • Mint and Cinnamon usually tour different venues but occasionally they do the same club.
  • by 0100010001010011 ( 652467 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @09:17AM (#49821441)

    I've been a Debian user for a long time but for my wife's laptop or Linux installs on friends machines I almost always turn to Mint.

    They're still going to support Upstart & Systemd [slashdot.org]. The LMDE release [linuxmint.com] was always a rolling release locked to Debian Testing.

    They've continued GNOME2 in MATE DE [mate-desktop.org] along with the GNOME3 fork Cinnamon [linuxmint.com].

    I've personally transitioned to FreeBSD for my desktop & server needs but if a friend wants to get into Linux with a decent GUI I point them to Mint. Ubuntu has gone full "Windows 8.1" in trying to appease the lowest common denominator when most people just want a desktop they recognize.

    • Great post.

    • Ubuntu has gone full "Windows 8.1" in trying to appease the lowest common denominator when most people just want a desktop they recognize.

      No, they aren't. I don't know who they are attempting to attract but it's certainly not the lowest common denominator. No-one seems to want the ubuntu interface, nor the gnome3 one for that matter. Not the newbies nor the present computer users.

      • by juanfgs ( 922455 )

        I've seen a lot of people happy with Gnome 3. I kinda liked some aspects of it but in the end you realize that you traded more-for-less when using it.

    • Since when did Windows 8.1 appease anyone? Customers have been staying away in droves.

      • C'mon, 8.1 is still the third most-used desktop OS out there, right behind 7 and XP. Something to do with sticking it on all the new computers people buy, 99% of the home users having no idea of changing the OS.

    • by Rob Y. ( 110975 )

      I use the Mint KDE edition, and have never tried Cinnamon. But it's still worth asking why Cinnamon was needed. I get that nobody liked Gnome 3 (at least at the beginning), but how different - when you get down to it - is the Cinnamon desktop from the KDE desktop? Aren't they both continuations of the standard 'task bar + start menu' paradigm?

      Mint KDE is really nice, and since KDE is still being actively developed, why would the Mint folks feel the need to develop yet another desktop? If it's only 'beca

  • by walterbyrd ( 182728 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @09:42AM (#49821621)

    All the juvenile bullshit posts on slashdot are getting tiresome.

    LMDE2 with Cinnamon 2.6 gets it right. No mandatory systemd, far superior interface to Gnome3.

    Taking a look at Cinnamon 2.6 LMDE 2 "betsy"
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAyXswmVZG0

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      All the juvenile bullshit posts on slashdot are getting tiresome.

      So stop posting. We won't miss you.

    • by WheezyJoe ( 1168567 ) <fegg&excite,com> on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @10:56AM (#49822187)

      The youtube link was not so much a review as a quick runthrough of the new Cinnamon's look, feel and features.
      And it's looks really, really good, like it strikes that weird balance between giving you all the control and features you want (that commercial desktops and some gnome-based desktops lack) without over-complicating the interface with a rabbit-hole of settings and interfaces (my biggest gripe with other linux desktops, esp. KDE).

      Kudos to the Mint team for going the extra mile on this. It's not easy to get a desktop right, and everyone else it seems has given up on account of the mobile craze (looking at YOU, Microsoft). I think Mint just set the gold standard for a DE. and it's free.

      • That's great. A stable, intuitive, responsive desktop is sorely needed. Linux desktop environments lack polish. Always missing features, configuration settings are confusing, and the file manager is too easy to crash. Why for instance is it such a pain to set colors in LXDE? Themes are icons and colors together, makes it difficult to have one without the other. In Openbox, I don't want the scroll wheel to flip between desktops, or "shade" and "unshade" windows if on the titlebar, and that's the first

    • Is "no systemd" a feature for LMDE?

      I'm asking as it's a desktop distribution and systemd is apparently focused on desktops as well.

  • Nemo (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Daniel Hoffmann ( 2902427 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @09:44AM (#49821635)

    Nemo is the best linux file manager I have ever used, it even supports SSH/FTP. The only other file manager that I have used and know to be better is XYPlorer, but it is paid and windows only.

    Really, even if you use other display managers you should be using Nemo. What they have done in the gnome fork can only be called butchery to this great piece of software.

    • by juanfgs ( 922455 )

      > in the gnome fork

      oh today is opposite day I see.

      • You could say that both Nemo and the other bastard son "Files" from gnome 3 (also known as Gnome Files) are both forks from Nautilus (the file manager from gnome 2).

    • by Chozabu ( 974192 )
      It looks similar to KDEs Dolphin - what's better about it?
      • I have not used Dolphin so I can not comment on that, but I just really like how nemo structures stuff. Nemo also has a 2 panel interface that I really like, it works like midnight commander (also known as MC).

    • Ever tried Konqueror (under KDE) ? Support local files, http, ftp, sftp, ssh, smb, etc
      https://tr.opensuse.org/Konque... [opensuse.org]
      • Well... used to. Plasma 5 went ahead and broke FTP file browsing and seems to have made sftp file browsing much more error-prone.

    • by Anonymous Coward

      I totally agree. Nemo is excellent and is the only file manager I can thing of that has no annoying feature or omission.

      Windows Explorer remembers folder settings per folder, which I find infuriating (although you can iron out this problem over time), and since 7 they hid away a bunch of useful features like folder stats and parent folder link, so you need to install Windows addons to get them back. Mac OSX Finder was the most shockingly bad file manager I tried. Maybe I just wasn't using it right, but I ma

    • I built LFS with emerald and compiz and I still built nautilus as the file manager, because it's still the best unless you're on a constrained system.

      These days it has flags to manage the desktop (or not) and draw the background (or not) so it plays well with other DEs.

      • Nemo is a fork of Nautilus (the old one from gnome 2), the current Files (also called Gnome Files) present in gnome 3 is another fork (it sucks compared to nemo). So I am unsure what version exactly are you using, the old one or the one from gnome 3 or yet another fork that I am unaware?

        • So I am unsure what version exactly are you using, the old one or the one from gnome 3 or yet another fork that I am unaware?

          Probably the old one, let me check. Hmm, no, looks like the gnome 3 one. Why is nemo better? I have barely used that box since the build.

          • Re:Nemo (Score:5, Informative)

            by Daniel Hoffmann ( 2902427 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @01:43PM (#49823743)

            From:
            http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/... [linuxmint.com]

            All the features Nautilus 3.4 had and which are missing in Nautilus 3.6 (all desktop icons, compact view, etc..)
            Open in terminal (this is part of Nemo itself)
            Open as root (this is also part of Nemo)
            File operations progress information (when you copy/move files you can see the percentage and info about the operation on the window title and so also in your window list)
            Proper GTK bookmarks management
            Full navigation options (back, forward, up, refresh)
            Ability to toggle between the path entry and the path breadcrumb widgets
            A lot more configuration options

            Short term, it’s also likely to gain the following:
            A proper status bar
            A layout which is more similar to Caja, where the pathbar/path-entry field is below the main toolbar and only spans accross the view pane
            Configurable toolbar buttons for hidden features (view-selection, zoom levelsetc).

            It is quite an old post and some of may not be true anymore, but basically gnome3 dumbed down the file manager (like windows did with removing the up navigation button). They do not mention it but I also like the dual-pane mode (aka midnight commander mode)

    • I've never found a Linux file manager that didn't support SFTP/FTP/SMB
  • by Sir_Eptishous ( 873977 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @11:04AM (#49822265)
    I've been using Mint for about six months now and I think it is the best Linux desktop I've tried.
    Forgive me now as I tell you I have no idea whether I'm using Gnome, KDE, Cinnamon or Raspberry Pie.
    It is the gui that came with the default install, and I like it.

    However, recently I've seen problems popping up, two specifically:
    1. When using Google Maps in Chromium it usually brings my system to a complete halt. This is a recent problem, so I'm assuming some update is the cause, either with Chromium or Mint. When this lockup happens the only thing I am able to do is switch to a console and reboot.
    2. When the Software Update runs in the background it slows things down tremendously. I can either update, or close the updater. If I leave it open without updating the system stays extremely slow. Like the Chromium problem, this just started in the last month or so. Before that everything was. Nothing new has been installed, except for the normal updates of course.

    I'm hoping over the course of time another update or some such will correct these problems.
  • Other smaller improvements include a working screensaver that does more than just lock the screen

    And I remember seeing something in a forum where Ubuntu devs claimed screensavers were a "windoze" thing that Linux desktop didn't need...
    WUT!?!

  • It's too bad he feels this way:
    http://abriefhistory.org/?p=77... [abriefhistory.org]

    • Wow. You don't even need to know anything about the Israeli/Palestinian situation to recognize blatant jingoistic propaganda.

      FTA:

      Lefebvre sees Israelis as the problem.

      “It’s a moral stand point. You see a lot of people all over the globe complain about China, Russia, and take individual actions to dissociate themselves from them. I don’t agree with what Israel is doing and although they’re forced to take action and defend themselves I don’t believe they have their back aga

    • by jdk1 ( 3040399 )
      He strongly apologized in a 2013 interview [networkworld.com]:

      "I think the one thing I regret the most is giving people the impression I cared about politics and getting involved in something that had nothing to do with me."

  • by ohnocitizen ( 1951674 ) on Tuesday June 02, 2015 @11:55AM (#49822663)
    I'm using MATE now and loving it. Are you using Cinnamon and you love it? Why? What makes the switch worth it?
  • Cinnamon is clearly the best Linux Desktop.
    Thanks for working on it.

    • strt hatari, freeze
      vnc into the box, freeze
      fullscreen vlc freeze, reboot
      use lots of browsers the same time, freeze, crash, logout, reboot

      Oh well, works perfectly.

  • You wouldn't steal a car, would you?

    Choosing your own screensaver is not a victimless crime.

    www.gnomecontrolcenter.gov

  • I've been using the KDE version of Mint because I found Cinnamon to waste a lot of screen space and be very choppy to use by comparison. Is it time to switch?
  • I'd settle for one that didn't randomly completely lock up and force me to kill it from an alternate tty... however Mint is pretty decent over all.. typing this from a several months old Rebecca Mint box...

  • This dreadfull bastard of slowness and bugs has been dumped by me after I encountered about 1 crash, freeze or reboot per week. (on frssh LMDE install beginning 2015)
    It is completely utter sillyness to expect endusers to use a kiddy fiddely software piece of junk.
    Switched to Mate (i.e. gnome2) and it was 10 times faster, and has not crashed since 2 months.

Two can Live as Cheaply as One for Half as Long. -- Howard Kandel

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