I came to install Linux Mint, not to praise it. ;=)
I'm not going to bash Mircorsoft or Windows XP today. A large portion of the
world's computer users are currently running XP and know it quirks far better than I. Again, my install should have gone qicker but was made difficult by my own actions. What are my final thoughts on XP for my Dell?I was kind of shocked at the amount of hardware XP didn't work with natively. I understand why it didn't, but I had been living under the myth that Windows "just works" with everything. I was also caught off-guard on the lack of functionality XP showed. Yes, it's all available for a price. I just expected things like Java/Flash support to be included, silly me. In the last few years I have become much more productive and comfortable with the Linux/BSD way things are done. I need XP installed on my machine. I'll pop over to verify and test things under Windows, but I don't think I will spend much time here. It's personal, but to me XP feels excessively restrictive. Like trying to run in waist deep water.
My feelings for Linux Mint? Brace yourself. :)
The Mint logo is "from freedom came elegance". I have to agree. Mint is very much like an elegant Ubuntu. The Mint team's hard work shows in more than just the looks though. Things like additional hardware detection, Beagle search, mintDisk and mintConfig help Mint to establish its own identity. I've used mintInstall and their portal to install gFTP and will be watching the development of mintInstall closely. Very interesting things afoot, indeed.It's almost spooky how well Linux Mint suits my personal computing habits and hardware. For example, I normally install Thunerbird first thing but it comes as the default e-mail client in Mint. Other little details, things I would have changed if I could spend the time, are all there. The way right click now includes an option to really Delete, not just move items to the trash, love it. This is my system now.
Linux Mint did have a few quirks. Nothing serious, but little blemishes, like leaving numerous residual config files on the machine or my MediaDirect button linking to not installed rhythmbox. Beauty marks on a model for all I'm concerned. At this point, me and Linux Mint... We's in love!
Anyone curious about this Linux thing you keep hearing about, I highly suggest you get a copy of Linux Mint and give it a try. It's a live CD so you don't even have to touch your hard drive and current OS if you don't want. Play around and then fire up Synaptic (install software in Mint's main menu) and be amazed at the offerings of the FOSS world.
Well, I hope you enjoyed our little dual-booting odyssey. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to spend some quality time with Linux Mint. :=)
