Simple clear advice in plain English

Linux Mint is free, looks good and is great for enjoying music and films

This version of Linux includes many media features that work straight away including Flash and DVD playback

linux-mint-12

Linux Mint is an easy to use Linux distribution that comes with Flash and DVD playback

Linux Mint is a version of Linux that includes several useful capabilities that normally have to be added by hand such as Flash and DVD playback. It is also attractive to use.

The latest version, Linux Mint 12, includes Gnome 3 (that's the software used to display the desktop) with some customisations unique to Mint, new artwork and a new default search engine called DuckDuckGo. This search engine doesn't track information about search requests. Some of the search engines donate to Mint when they are used.

This DVD image can be used as a LiveDVD for giving Linux Mint a try without having to make any changes to your computer. This Live mode is also used to install Linux Mint and there is a link for this on the Desktop.

We used a blank hard disk for the test and found that we had to click on the Edit partitions button in order to prepare the blank disk for installation. This won't be a problem if you are installing onto a computer that already has an operating system on it. It has a simple checklist for disk space, power (don't try to install on a laptop on battery) and internet connection.

A clever touch is that it starts copying files before asking you for various settings such as location so it leaves less time waiting around for stuff to work.

The password tool checks for the security of the password and tells you how strong it is. Mint can be set to log in automatically and encrypt a home folder using that password.

The equivalent of the Start menu looks a little different with a bigger panel. This first shows the favourite programs that cover most of the tasks you are likely to want to use the computer for. The All applications button is at the top right rather than the bottom right on Windows but this leaves more space for the search bar. Using a single menu for applications, places and settings is easy for newcomers from Windows.

Impressively, Flash playback worked from installation with sites such as YouTube. DVD playback should also work as it has both the Totem player and VLC. All of the system files for DVD playback are also included in the installation.

All the other software that you'd expect is installed with Mint, including Open Office, Thunderbird, Firefox, Pidgin and The GIMP.

There is an update manager that shows an icon in the Notification Area when updates are available. We would probably prefer something a little more obvious, at least for top priority updates.

The download link will take you to a webpage where you can choose where to download Mint from. This is fairly common practice in the open source world where the download is found on several different computers, known as mirrors. They will all have the same file so there isn't much to choose between them. It is normally best to pick a server

Reader Comments

Great Linux distro

I have been using linux-Mint for some years now and found it gets better with each update.Mint is based on ubuntu but is better presented and more complete.

Posted by Derek Rickards, 10 Apr 2011

display:none  

Add your comment

Please keep comments constructive and free from abuse of any kind and swearing. If you wish to link to a product or service online, please do so in such a way that makes it clear that it is not spam. If you are connected to any such product you should make that clear.

We may use your comments in the magazine. We may edit your comments for clarity or to remove unacceptable material. We will attribute your comments but not share your email address.

We request your email address and record your Internet Address (IP address) in order to block spam from our site. We will never share this information without your permission.

All comments are reviewed by the Computeractive Team before being published. Please bear with the slight delay this causes, you don't need to post more than once.

Click here to read our Privacy Policy

Click here to read our site Terms & Conditions

Related downloads

steam-on-linux

Download: Steam for Linux

Serious gaming comes to Ubuntu at last

inkscape-vector-graphic-editor

Edit vector graphics with Inkscape

Create illustrations with this free program

the wubi installer for windows

Download: Wubi Ubuntu Installer for Windows

No need to worry about partitioning hard disks if you want to give the free operating system Ubuntu a go

Our verdict

Download type

Open source

Suitable for

Linux

Download size

1GB

Best deals on the web

img

Apple iMac 2.7GHz 8GB 1TB 5400rpm 21.5''

£1024.95- Buy it now

img

HP Pavilion p6-2480ea (D2L08EA)

£269.95- Buy it now

img

HP Pavilion p6-2310ea (C3T79EA)

£299.99- Buy it now

Updating your subscription status Loading

Most popular articles

No matching document

Poll

Do you have Windows 8?

Jargon Buster

Computing terms explained in plain English

CPU

Central Processing Unit. Another term for a computer processor.

Great shopping deals from Computeractive

Information currently unavailable