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Ubuntu Cinnamon and Linux Mint’s Cinnamon Edition have a lot in common. Both are based on Ubuntu, both use the Cinnamon desktop, and both are Linux distributions with a solid focus on a simple and user-friendly desktop experience. So is there any difference and, if so, which one is better? I had a close look at both to find out.
I should probably start out by disclosing that I have been using Ubuntu Cinnamon for a while now, and have become a fan of it, so that probably makes me a bit biased. On the other hand, I had never had a close look at Linux Mint before this joint review.
So, let’s start with a review of the latest release of both of these distributions.
Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS
Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS (long term support) came out on 25 April, 2024 along with all of the other Ubuntu flavors. This is its tenth release and the third one since it became an official Ubuntu flavor.
Like the three interim releases that made up this release cycle, Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS brings only some small changes to this long term support version. The upgrades include the newly released Cinnamon 6.0.4 desktop and a new flutter-based installer. Having installed Cinnamon 24.04 LTS on two computers, I can say that the new installer is very simple, clear and easy to use. Anyone’s grandma could install it. The installer includes a minimal installation feature but, in testing it out, I determined that it does not work, and either way you get the full installation.
This release adds experimental support for Wayland plus a few other minor fixes and upgrades.
Applications
Some of the applications included with Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS are: Alacritty 0.12.2 terminal emulator* Archive Manager (File Roller) 44.1 archiver Blueman 2.3.5 Bluetooth controller Brasero 3.12.3 CD/DVD burner* Cheese 44.1 webcam* Cinnamon 6.0.4 desktop environment CUPS 2.4.7 printing system Document Scanner (Simple Scan) 46.0 optical scanner Document Viewer 46.0 (Evince) PDF viewer Firefox 125.0.2 web browser Deja Dup 45.2 back-ups GDebi 0.9.5.7 package installer GIMP 2.10.36 image editor GNOME Calendar 46.0 desktop calendar GNOME Disks 46.0 disk manager GNOME Software 46.0 package management system GNOME System Monitor 46.0 system resource monitor GNOME Terminal 3.52.0 terminal emulator GNOME Videos 43.0 (totem) video player* GNote 46.0 note taking application Gparted 1.5.0 partition editor* * gThumb 3.12.6 image viewer Hexchat 2.16.2 IRC client Image Magick 6.9.12.98 command line image editor Image Viewer 45.3 (Eye of Gnome) image viewer LibreOffice 24.2.2 office suite Muffin 6.0.1 window manager Nemo 6.0.2 file manager Pidgin 2.14.13 IRC client Pipewire 1.0.5 audio controller Remmina 1.4.35 remote desktop client Rhythmbox 3.4.7 music player* Shotwell 0.32.6 photo organizer Sound Juicer 3.40.0 CD ripper* Synaptic 0.91.3 package manager* Text Editor (gedit) 46.2 text editor* Thunderbird 115.10.1 email client Transmission 4.0.5 bittorrent client * indicates same application version used in Ubuntu Cinnamon 23.10 supplied as a snap, so version depends on the upstream package manager *** only present in the live session version, not in the normal installation
There were some unannounced changes to this long list of applications, one of which was the addition of the Blueman Bluetooth controller. Adding this makes good sense as Ubuntu Cinnamon previously lacked a Bluetooth controller. Another unannounced new addition is the Shotwell photo organizer.
Unannounced application removals are the Celluloid and MPV video players, as well as the GNOME Photos photo manager. Since the last version of Ubuntu Cinnamon had three video players, cutting it down to just GNOME Videos (Totem) makes good sense. Presumably Shotwell was added to make up for GNOME Photos being removed.
The list of default applications included in Ubuntu Cinnamon is very long and has just about everything a desktop user could want except perhaps a video editor. There are still a lot of applications included that duplicate other applications, like two terminal emulators, two image viewers, two image editors and two software package managers. There are also 19 games included. I think most users will want to remove some applications to reduce menu clutter and duplication. A true minimal installation would be a welcome feature.
Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon Edition
Linux Mint has been around since 2006, so it is pretty tried and trusted. The Cinnamon desktop was actually developed by the Linux Mint team and first released in January, 2012 as a response to the introduction of GNOME 3, the desktop that everyone loved to hate when it first came out in April 2011. Up until that time, Mint had been using the GNOME 2 desktop. The Cinnamon desktop is a worthy successor to GNOME 2.
Linux Mint also has two other desktop editions: MATE and Xfce, although Cinnamon remains their flagship product.
Linux Mint 21.3, code named “Virginia”, came out on 12 January, 2024, and is an updated point release to the original 21.0 “Vanessa” from 31 July, 2022. There have been other version 21 point releases: 21.1 “Vera” and 21.2 “Victoria”, each based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS. Yes, each point release has a girl's name for a code name, and within each major release, all versions begin with the same letter of the alphabet. The future Linux Mint 22.0 will be based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS and called “Wilma”. Picking “X” code names for Linux Mint 23 should be interesting. I am not sure what they will do after they hit the letter “Z” with the release of Linux Mint 25.0, though, but stay tuned.
As a point release, Linux Mint 21.3 brings only a few new updates including full support for SecureBoot and wider compatibility with more BIOS and EFI setups, with Grub used in EFI mode and Isolinux/syslinux used in BIOS mode. The Mint tools and the framework employed to produce ISO images have also been updated.
This release uses Cinnamon desktop version 6.0 which adds more file manager actions from the Nemo file manager's right-click menus. Work on support for a Wayland protocol display server has also started, although it is not yet complete. The new desktop version also brings a host of smaller improvements like 75% scaling, window opacity keybinding and additional mouse gestures.
Applications
Some of the applications included with Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon Edition are: Blueman 2.3.5 Bluetooth manager Celluloid 0.21 video player Bulky 3.2 file renamer (integrated with Nemo) Drawing 1.0.2 image editor Firefox 121.0 web browser GNOME Archive Manager (File Roller) 3.42.0 file archiver GNOME Calculator 41.1 calculator GNOME Calendar 41.2 calendar GNOME Disks 42.0 disk manager GNOME Disk Usage Analyzer 41.0 disk usage display GNOME Document Scanner (Simple Scan) 42.0 optical scanner GNOME Terminal 3.44.0 terminal emulator Gparted 1.3.1 partition manager GUFW 24.04.0 firewall Hexchat 2.16.0 IRC client Hypnotix 4.3 television streaming application LibreOffice 7.3.7.2 office suite MintInstall 8.2.9 software manager MintUpdate 6.0.7 update manager Nemo 6.0.2 file manager Pix 3.2.2 image organizer Redshift 1.12 desktop day/night adjuster Rhythmbox 3.4.4 music player Synaptic 0.90.2 package manager Thunderbird 115.6.0 email client Timeshift 24.01.1 system restore utility Transmission 3.00 BitTorrent client Warpinator 1.8.3 file transfer client xed 3.4.5 text editor xreader 4.0.2 document viewer xviewer 3.4.4 image viewer
Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon Edition comes with a wide assortment of applications installed including most of what desktop users probably need, but without a lot of duplication. Many of the included applications are basically generic versions of GNOME applications. Some of these are just “debranded” while others are forks. One example is the xed text editor which is a fork of Pluma, which is, in turn, a fork of GNOME's gedit text editor.
Comparison
It can be seen that these two distributions are far more similar than they are different. Both are simple, elegant and easy to use. Let’s have a look at the areas where they differ.
Download Size
Linux Mint 21.3 has a download size of 3.1 GB while Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS has a download size of 5.2 GB. This is a bit of an “apples and oranges” comparison, though. Linux Mint 21.3 is based on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS while Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS is based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Ubuntu has grown in the intervening two-year period. Ubuntu Cinnamon 22.04 LTS was 3.9 GB. I suspect that Linux Mint 22, which will be based on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, will be bigger. These days, given most people’s internet download speeds and disk capacity, I am not sure that it matters.
Live Sessions
New and unwelcome in an Ubuntu Cinnamon 24.04 LTS live session is that it will not mount any drives, including USB drives. This makes it pretty useless to use as a rescue disk, not to mention complicating getting screenshots off the live session for reviewers. In comparison, a Linux Mint 21.3 live session mounts drives fine and allows for the transferring of files between the live session and drives.
Releases and Support Periods
Linux Mint comes out every two years, only as an LTS version, with point releases in between. Support for each major version is for five years. If you need the latest hardware support for a new computer, you can always install the “Edge” version instead which uses a newer Linux kernel.
Ubuntu Cinnamon comes out every six months so a new kernel is always available, if needed for hardware support. Like Mint, Ubuntu Cinnamon has LTS releases every two years, but with three “interim” releases in between. The LTS versions are supported for three years, while the interim versions have nine months of support.
These sound like significant differences, but in practice they are probably not. Most Ubuntu users stick to the LTS versions anyway, unless they need that newer hardware support. Five years of support versus three seems to give an edge to Mint, but most users of either distribution probably run the latest LTS anyway and, with one button upgrades available, that is easy to do. While these releases and their support periods seem different, in practice they are probably a wash. With either distribution, any user can be running the current LTS version without much effort.
Default Applications
Linux Mint has a carefully curated list of default applications with almost no overlap or duplication among them. While the Mint application list is fairly long, it does provide a very complete desktop out of the box.
Ubuntu Cinnamon's list of default applications is much longer, but not better. It has a lot of odd duplication, although in 24.04 LTS at least a few of the previous duplicate applications have been removed. Ubuntu Cinnamon users will have to do some application cleanup or else live with the extra clutter. Linux Mint is ahead on default applications.
Customization
There is no doubt that while Ubuntu Cinnamon offers a wide range of user customization, Linux Mint offers more. Mint comes with 95 wallpapers compared to Ubuntu Cinnamon’s 43, 70 icon themes to 33, 14 cursor themes to 6, 67 window color themes to 35, and 65 bottom panel schemes to 28. With each providing so many choices, does it even matter? I guess the extra choices Mint provides would be important to someone whose favorite theme was not on Ubuntu Cinnamon’s list. Personally, I don’t give much stock to the number of wallpapers a distribution has, as they are easy to obtain elsewhere and install.
Snap versus Flatpak
Which is better, Snap or Flatpak? These days this has become an emotional argument more than a technical one. Mint comes with Flatpak installed and ready to use, although no Flatpak applications are actually installed. Ubuntu Cinnamon has Snaps enabled and a few already installed, including Firefox and Thunderbird. Of course, it is easy to enable Flatpak on Ubuntu Cinnamon and even install Snaps on Mint. Objectively, both packaging systems work well these days and are probably functionally equivalent. No need to choose, you can have both if desired so this is a bit of a wash, rather than any advantage.
Bulk File Renaming
Linux Mint and Ubuntu Cinnamon both use the Nemo file manager which was developed for the Cinnamon desktop. Nemo is a fork of version 3.4 of the GNOME file manager, Nautilus, now called GNOME Files. On Mint, it is integrated with Bulky to give a bulk file renaming capability, but on Ubuntu Cinnamon, Bulky and that integration is missing. Bulky can be installed on Ubuntu Cinnamon and set so that it works from Nemo, but it takes some user input to achieve.
Which to Choose?
Both operating systems are very functional but, overall, Linux Mint 21.3 Cinnamon Edition works better than Ubuntu Cinnamon straight out-of-the-box. That said, Ubuntu Cinnamon can work as well as Mint with a bit of time invested. For someone who wants to install an operating system and get to work, Linux Mint has the edge over Ubuntu Cinnamon, at least for now.