Is Mint 9 what it's hyped up to be?

catilley1092

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I know there's a few Linux users on this forum, so I'm wondering about something. The latest release of Mint, which is 9. No matter whether I install it as 32 or 64 bit, a regular install or a VM, it's the slowest Mint that I've used lately. Keep in mind here that it's based on the latest release of Ubuntu (10.04), which also sucks. With 4GB of RAM, nearly any 64 bit Linux OS should fly, but this one isn't. I even tried formatting (as suggested) in ext3, instead of ext4. No better. And startup is terrible. I'm seriously thing of going back to 8.

Has anyone else here had negative experiences with the latest Mint besides me? It's not Windows, but it's the next best thing to it.
 

Ian

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I've not tried Mint 9 yet, but I'm going to give it a while in VirtualBox next week if I get a chance. I quite like the fact that Mint comes with all the codecs and other little tweaks that I'd normally install... but if there's a real performance drag in this release, that's a big shame.

Once I've installed it, I'll post back here :). In the mean time, I look forward to reading what others think about it :D.
 

Core

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I haven't used the final release. I tried the release candidate and it was just as fast as 8, if not faster. I was particularly impressed, however, with the subtle changes to UI options. I much prefer my window controls to be on the left, a la OS X, and Mint 9 has an option for it, which I like. You can still get that by using themes in 8, but it's nice regardless.

I'm not using it full-time at the moment, regrettably. If and when I can go back to using Mint, I'll install 9 with full confidence. I do miss Gnome... Windows' interface is so restrictive, clunky, and unintuitive once you've experienced Gnome and Compiz.
 

catilley1092

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Mabye it's the fact that it takes forever to get to the login screen, that's the slowest part about it. Once you're logged in, it's fine. But on the home screen, there's a list of things, and one of them is "known problems". You click onto it, it takes you to the Ubuntu site, that's where you're recommended to format in ext3, rather than the default (ext4). Something about the software manager would work better.

Perhaps it will get better with time, and it will fire up faster. Mint does stay on top of things well, more so than any other Linux OS that I've ran. Some things are out of their control, as they're running on Ubuntu's base, and hopefully the startup issue will be resolved soon.
 

Core

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For me, booting was even faster on Mint 9 than 8. I wonder what's causing that issue... Is Mint's bootloader the dedicated bootloader on the system?

As for ext3/4, I prefer ext4. It performs a little better for me... But I've also had a system crash render the filesystem useless b/c I was using ext4, so it's a gamble.
 

Fire cat

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Hum...
I find the UI ok, but even with all the features it has, I will never be a mint user.
About the boot, it's "normal" that it is slow compaired to Windows. Linux takes time to load all the drivers before letting the user use it, while Windows boots up and continues to load drivers, while still letting the user use Windows.
I think that's a big plus for Windows compaired to Linux.
 

Core

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I quite like the fact that not only does Mint load faster than Windows, when I get to the desktop I can actually use it. I'm not at all a fan of watching the neon circle go round & round while crap is being loaded into the system tray one icon at a time.
 

catilley1092

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I found much of the reason for it starting slowly, was the USB port that the drive was plugged into. The two side ports are different, according to the device manager. I have two side and four rear USB ports.
1) Standard Enhanced PCI to USB Host Controller (side ports).
2) Standard OpenHCD USB Host Controller (rear ports).

After discovering this, I plugged the drive containing Mint 9 into one of the side ports, what a difference it made! I now have 7 Home Premium running in Oracle's Virtual Box inside of Mint, it runs faster than Mint itself ran in the back ports.

Plus, one other thing to consider, this was the original hard drive that came with the computer last November. It's mounted in a case with it's own power supply, and it's still a perfectly good drive (320GB SATA, 7200 RPM). But a USB port is not the native connection for this drive, so performance will drop some. However, this same drive, plugged into my laptop, runs circles around the installed drive within it.

So finally, I do have decent performance out of Mint 9, and now am a happy camper.:D
 

Nibiru2012

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Probably because the laptop's drive runs at 5400 RPM versus the 7200 RPM for the external drive. Probably the drive's onboard cache is bigger too on the external drive.
 

catilley1092

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And probably because the laptop is about shot, too. If only it were newer, I'd buy a decent drive to install in it. A like replacement can be found for as little as $50. But that would be like putting a new transmission in a car that's burning oil. Any money spent will be towards my desktop. As soon as that laptop crashes for the final time, I'll be getting a new one, one that has 4GB RAM, 500+GB drive, and one of those four cylinder (quad) processors under the hood. No more eBay refurbs for me, thank you.:D
 

Veedaz

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I have being running Mint 9 for a day or two on a quite low powered PC and I think its come a long way, I will never become a 100% Linux user but considering its a free OS .... well done !
 

catilley1092

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It certainly has come a long way in a short time, Mint was founded in 2006. It's for beginners and veterans alike. And one other thing, you can install it on the oldest and obsolete of computers, and it will bring it back to life. It isn't picky, it will run on most anything.
 

Veedaz

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Well the wife likes it Cat and she would like Mint as a dual boot on her desktop PC so I'm going to install an extra HDD and load it for her, so it will be Windows 7 / Mint 9 :)
 

yodap

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I have downloaded and burned. Will try to install it next week sometime. I still have Mint 8 on my 4 gig usb thumb drive.
 

catilley1092

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Well the wife likes it Cat and she would like Mint as a dual boot on her desktop PC so I'm going to install an extra HDD and load it for her, so it will be Windows 7 / Mint 9 :)
Glad that she likes it! It really is a great OS. Be sure that when you format it, do so as ext3, rather than the default ext4. This is suggested by Ubuntu's site (the OS that Mint's foundation is on). When you load the OS, there will be a screen, be sure to review "known issues". It is there that you will see to format as ext3.:)
Tell Steph and your new employee that I said "Hi".
Cat
 
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Hyped up? Linux? LOL We call it God around here~!

I'm a part owner of a computer repair and sales shop located in New Port Richey, FL.

I didn't bother to read but the first comment made to start this blog off and just wanted to leave my two cents in a quick reply and then I have to scat (working still).

Since we changed over to Linux as the number one operating system sold (like 90% of all new installs is 8 or 9 Mint), we've noticed two things:

1.) It sure feels good to do the oposite when installing other operating systems ("...oh by the way, don't go here and don't go there and don't press that and watch out for this and you'll need body guards of antiviral and malware/spyware protectors and blah blah blah...".

2.) a. Doesn't get viruses like windows (still no sale?).
b. It's flashier than windows (still no sale?).
c. It's faster than windows (still you need more?).
d. It comes with over 30THOUUUUUUUSAND programs (how many you got in your windows right now? Did you have to get office and flash and java and pdf reader and pdf writer and did it matter which office you got because they don't communicate and ...... hell I could go on and on for freaking hours....we look back at windows like it was cancer! Just because you haven't figured it all out the moment you touched it doesn't mean it doesn't work...it's usually operator error in all things considered here.

I personally don't donate. I've done it twice with Linux though. Any entity that treats me as well as they have I appreciate (as opposed to profiteering, exploiting, manipulating, price-gouging, etc.) .

Only the simple or trapped don't free themselves. Those ever so present walls of corporate crap (microsoft, mac) are down with linux. And all it took was we, the people (without lobbyists).

It's a bigger picture people.

-kenny
727-277-8006
 

yodap

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Thanks for the useful post Kenny.

I was the 2nd to last poster before you. I had not used Mint 9 yet at that point. I find this OS faster and friendlier than any previous Linux system I've tried and I loved Mint 8. Of course Mint is the OS that any M$ Windows user will find to be the easiest transition from their comfort zone.

I am a Windows guy, but am always willing to learn new things. Mint has made it easier for me and I've always liked the fact that a Linux system can help someone recover files from a corrupted M$ system.

Hope all is well down in FLA.

Welcome to the forum!
 

catilley1092

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I'm a part owner of a computer repair and sales shop located in New Port Richey, FL.

I didn't bother to read but the first comment made to start this blog off and just wanted to leave my two cents in a quick reply and then I have to scat (working still).

Since we changed over to Linux as the number one operating system sold (like 90% of all new installs is 8 or 9 Mint), we've noticed two things:

1.) It sure feels good to do the oposite when installing other operating systems ("...oh by the way, don't go here and don't go there and don't press that and watch out for this and you'll need body guards of antiviral and malware/spyware protectors and blah blah blah...".

2.) a. Doesn't get viruses like windows (still no sale?).
b. It's flashier than windows (still no sale?).
c. It's faster than windows (still you need more?).
d. It comes with over 30THOUUUUUUUSAND programs (how many you got in your windows right now? Did you have to get office and flash and java and pdf reader and pdf writer and did it matter which office you got because they don't communicate and ...... hell I could go on and on for freaking hours....we look back at windows like it was cancer! Just because you haven't figured it all out the moment you touched it doesn't mean it doesn't work...it's usually operator error in all things considered here.

I personally don't donate. I've done it twice with Linux though. Any entity that treats me as well as they have I appreciate (as opposed to profiteering, exploiting, manipulating, price-gouging, etc.) .

Only the simple or trapped don't free themselves. Those ever so present walls of corporate crap (microsoft, mac) are down with linux. And all it took was we, the people (without lobbyists).

It's a bigger picture people.

-kenny
727-277-8006
Welcome to the forum, Kenny! I was the one who created this thread, and since then, I've got things worked out. I've been using Mint since 6, and Ubuntu before that. No one has to sell on me how good Linux is, I've known it for awhile.

It was just setting up my computer to computer to run it, and getting used to the new Mint. Personally, I liked the splash screen of Mint 7 (those water beads running down that mint green screen), but those days are gone.

If you would have read into the thread, you would have read that I got things worked out.

And yes, I know that Mint has thousands of apps on hand, I use enough of them to know, and the best thing about Mint is you don't need an AV, defraggler, registry cleaners, and it will fly on 4GB RAM with no problem.

Best of luck, and keep up the good work.

Cat
 
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Ouch....LOL

Wow...this must really be an active forum site! I didn't expect to see such responses only hours after having posted my comments here, (we see many threads online where someone will comment on a site and the response comes years later) actually I expected no response....hmmm...maybe this comment will show you emailers the art of avoidance (LOL) .

Anyway, thanks for the emails and these comments, and sorry about my crude lack of communication skills (smile, I blame it on my chemical imbalance brought on by fluoride being forced in my water supply...as if ingesting aluminum slag is going to make your teeth whiter; here's a snippet of news:According to investigative reporter, Christopher Bryson, in his new book "The Fluoride Deception", fluoride is an essential component of atomic bomb production and was declared a 'strategic and critical' material by the government after World War II, With fluospar, the usual fluoride source, in short supply, they turned to Florida's phosphate industry to recover the industry's captured fluoride. Florida held the world's largest geological deposits of natural phosphate which contain 3 - 4% fluoride. ). Crap, I'm in Florida and I'm here to tell you there's something wrong with the water here.

But that's another story, so what if the profiteers are killing us, hell we have a food/air shortage right?

Okay I'm back...

But to touch on the Linux group. Isn't it totally odd that the media or our so-called education system (programming those young impressionable minds with....) doesn't bother to tell us about Linux? I mean, if this present social and economic order (we'll call it the capitalistic order) hasn't bothered to tell us something like "Hey fellow americans! We have some good news to draw your attention from the fact that we are using your kids in our wars for profit, and the fact that we incarcerate more of our own people than any other country in the world, and that homelessness and jobless rates are growing at an alarming rate, and the fact that we seem to be getting looted by the few owners to the tune of a 14trillion dollar debt (some say as high as 17trillion). The good news is that you don't have to deal with viruses anymore!!).

Now that would be news (since they've not found any weapons of mass destruction, etc.).

So, I guess what I'm trying to say in a round about way, thanks for not sending the hate mail (smiles).

P.S. If anyone out there is bored and want to investigate something REEEEALLLY interesting check out Jonestown! Cia owned the property over in Guyana (before it was Jonestown it was the Shalaom Project). People that tried to escape the U.S. Policy (MK-ultra, viet nam, etc.) went over there and were smiling faces when they went but were soon changed and I'm pretty sure you'll find the "news" we heard about a bunch of black people just deciding to listen to a white preacher to commit suicide was a blatant lie. Really shocking, you'll read about a Senator Leo Ryan that was killed over there (but find out what he was working on in the states: Hughes/Ryan Amendment that was, if passed would have forced Cia from using us as guinea pigs (even now, check out what brought those three towers down in NY....they will change history though because we all are saying "twin towers" instead of THREE...p.s. I can prove on an etch-a-sketch that it could not have been a plane or kerosene (jet fuel)).

Anyway, enough rambling...peace out people!





Welcome to the forum, Kenny! I was the one who created this thread, and since then, I've got things worked out. I've been using Mint since 6, and Ubuntu before that. No one has to sell on me how good Linux is, I've known it for awhile.

It was just setting up my computer to computer to run it, and getting used to the new Mint. Personally, I liked the splash screen of Mint 7 (those water beads running down that mint green screen), but those days are gone.

If you would have read into the thread, you would have read that I got things worked out.

And yes, I know that Mint has thousands of apps on hand, I use enough of them to know, and the best thing about Mint is you don't need an AV, defraggler, registry cleaners, and it will fly on 4GB RAM with no problem.

Best of luck, and keep up the good work.

Cat
 

Nibiru2012

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(smile, I blame it on my chemical imbalance brought on by fluoride being forced in my water supply...as if ingesting aluminum slag is going to make your teeth whiter; here's a snippet of news:According to investigative reporter, Christopher Bryson, in his new book "The Fluoride Deception", fluoride is an essential component of atomic bomb production and was declared a 'strategic and critical' material by the government after World War II, With fluospar, the usual fluoride source, in short supply, they turned to Florida's phosphate industry to recover the industry's captured fluoride. Florida held the world's largest geological deposits of natural phosphate which contain 3 - 4% fluoride. )
Very interesting! I am glad to see someone else took the RED PILL besides me!

Yes, flouride is extemely toxic and is also a by-product of aluminum smelting as you mentioned. So hey... let's put it in the water supply and turn everyone into imbeciles.

It's also a component in Prozac and some other psychotropic anti-depressant and mood-altering drugs.

Ooops! Sorry about the momentary hijack.

(even now, check out what brought those three towers down in NY....they will change history though because we all are saying "twin towers" instead of THREE...p.s. I can prove on an etch-a-sketch that it could not have been a plane or kerosene (jet fuel)).
Hmmm... building 7 comes down in a classic demolition implosion style. That was one hell of precise fire in that building. For several weeks after the two tower fell there are "hot spots" in the basement level still at over 1500 Celsius, glowing red hot? Thermite... thermate? It's all the same. Over 95% of fuel was vaporized and burned up in the initial impacts of the planes, basically like an aerosol spray.

Steel beams from the collapse embedded in the face of another skyscraper over 300' away? Giant mushroom cloud of smoke behaving very similar to a pyroclastic flow?
 
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