WHY LINUX MINT IS BETTER THAN UBUNTU?

Earlier we had seen the different linux distros for beginners but let us see which one is the best among all of them. Which one is better, Linux Mint or Ubuntu? This question has been there ever since Linux Mint has been introduced. Ubuntu and Linux Mint are the most popular desktop Linux distributions.While Ubuntu is based on Debian, Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu. Both Linux Mint and Ubuntu have several editions (flavors) to choose from. Basically Linux Mint is a popular choice for a desktop Linux distro. It offers a wide range of customization options and an easy to use user interface. Ubuntu is a good choice both for Linux desktops and servers. The popularity of the distro and the active community make it easy to find a solution to any Ubuntu-related issue.Let see some of the things that make Linux Mint better than Ubuntu.

Low memory usage in Cinnamon

A base Cinnamon takes almost half of what Unity consumes. It is a lot lesser than GNOME. This makes Linux Mint a better choice than Ubuntu, even for computers with proper hardware. But if you have a core i7 with 16 GB of RAM, it really doesn’t change anything. But if you have a core i3 processor with 4GB of RAM, Cinnamon desktop beats Unity and GNOME.

Desktop environment

Both Linux Mint and Ubuntu have different releases/flavors/desktop environments. By default, Ubuntu (16.04, 17.04) comes with Unity, which is a desktop environment specifically created and designed for Ubuntu. Starting from 17.10, Ubuntu will ship with GNOME by default. As for Linux Mint, there is no “default”, but a choice of different desktop environments to begin with, the most popular being Cinnamon.You can install any desktop environment you want to use on both distros, but Ubuntu has more options for environments that works best and come pre-installed depending on the Ubuntu release you choose. Some Ubuntu releases include Lubuntu (LXLE), Xubuntu (Xfce), Ubuntu GNOME, Ubuntu Budgie, Ubuntu MATE.

Software Manager

Ubuntu Software Center takes a lot of time to load, eats up resources heavily and it slow while interacting with it. Comparing to that, Linux Mint’s Software Manager is lighter and quicker. Applications are broken down into categories and thus easier to navigate something that GNOME Software Center does as well.

Software Sources with several useful features

The Software Source tool in Mint is a lot better than in Ubuntu. It provides the option to reset the repositories to default which is very useful your repository list is messed up. It also separates PPAs so that you can manage them effectively. This tool also helps to fix automatically common update errors.

Themes, Applets and Desklets

Linux Mint have plenty of themes for Desktop customization than Ubuntu. First, you don’t need to install a new tool just to change themes in Mint. It already has covered it in Settings. On top of that, you can have several themes from the community at your disposal in Themes System Settings under ‘Get more online’ option. Ubuntu, on the other hand, does not have this ease in installing the themes. You’ll have to download the zipped themes file and then install it.Similarly, Linux Mint also has a separate entry in Settings for applets and desklets. You can also access an online collection of indicator applets and desklets (Windows like desktop widgets in Linux).

Codecs, Flash and plenty of applications by default:

Ubuntu gives the option to install codecs while installing OS itself. But here the flaw is if you don’t do at installation, you will find yourself struggling. Ubuntu has a package named Ubuntu Restricted Extras that consists of most commonly used media codecs, including Adobe Flash. While this package can easily be installed using a simple command, you won’t find it listed in the Ubuntu Software Center.Linux Mint doesn’t come with codecs installed anymore. But if you search for codecs, at least it provides you the correct options. Also Mint comes with plenty of applications such as GIMP, VLC which you need to install separately in Ubuntu.