Linux Mint Cinnamon flavor

[Peanut]

Since my vision issues are behind me I'm finally getting around to a project I started 2 years ago, setting up my pc with a second hard drive.

I've settled on 3 possible operating systems. Linux Mint, Cinnamon 19.1, Cinnamon 20.1, Xfxe 19.1. I took all 3 for a test drive from the ISO disks I created. I liked each of them. I simply don't know enough about the differences to make an informed choice.

Before the advent of modern PACS systems in hospitals I was adept at setting up networks for Catscans and MRI's, knew my way around a half dozen operating systems like Unix and MS NT.

Frankly, these days I'm not sure I want to dig into the technical side of any operating system but I'm not afraid of it either.

So, anyone familiar with these 3 Linux operating systems? Or have something you like about the one you use? Compared to windows or a mac?

What about basic functions like networking... setting up an home network or internet connection? Printers... what about drivers? Seems I read a post here in the forum about a difficulty with Mint and printers.

 

[bkt]

Since my vision issues are behind me I'm finally getting around to a project I started 2 years ago, setting up my pc with a second hard drive.

I've settled on 3 possible operating systems. Linux Mint, Cinnamon 19.1, Cinnamon 20.1, Xfxe 19.1. I took all 3 for a test drive from the ISO disks I created. I liked each of them. I simply don't know enough about the differences to make an informed choice.

Before the advent of modern PACS systems in hospitals I was adept at setting up networks for Catscans and MRI's, knew my way around a half dozen operating systems like Unix and MS NT.

Frankly, these days I'm not sure I want to dig into the technical side of any operating system but I'm not afraid of it either.

So, anyone familiar with these 3 Linux operating systems? Or have something you like about the one you use? Compared to windows or a mac?

What about basic functions like networking... setting up an home network or internet connection? Printers... what about drivers? Seems I read a post here in the forum about a difficulty with Mint and printers.

Mint is the OS and it's based on Ubuntu. Cinnamon, Mate (defunct?) and Xfce are the window systems that overlay the OS. I use Cinnamon 20 and I like it fine, but I don't use nearly all the features it provides. I'd be OK with an earlier version of Cinnamon.

Xfce is a lighter-weight but still very capable window system. If the PC you're working with is a bit old, Xfce might perform better than Cinnamon. Xfce may be less pretty than Cinnamon, but a lot of people don't care about that.

Since you have a second hard drive, just carve it into three partitions and install different dialects of Mint and try them out. Settle on the one you want, and either merge the partitions back into one large one, or reformat and reinstall what you like.

I set a static IP for my Mint PC. Doing that and configuring wifi is trivial. Click on the LM "start menu"->Preferences->Network. It should detect wifi networks automatically. Click the gear next to your SSID and under security select the mode (eg: WPA & WPA2 Personal) and enter your wifi password. Under the IPv4 tab, you can enter a static IP. Netmask is usually 255.255.255.0 and gateway is the IP if your router. DNS should also be your router but you could probably enter 8.8.8.8 and 4.4.4.4 if your router isn't configured to handle DNS.

As for printers, I've had no problem using HP and other brands and I have two printers configured now. Scanning works fine, too. I have not had to install drivers.