Mint 7 RC1 review: Softpedia

Introduction

RC releases don’t usually get reviewed, so I’m quite excited to see Softpedia give it a look. Softpedia has been full of great feedback in the past (back in the days when I was maintaining it, I remember them improving the look of the KDE edition for instance). They’re also an important website in the Linux community, one of the few with bookmark by default in Firefox.

The author is Daniel Pop-Silaghi, let’s go straigth to his review: http://news.softpedia.com/news/First-Look-Linux-Mint-7-RC1-110911.shtml

Happy reading everyone.

Comments:

Daniel says: “I was greeted with what instantly became my favorite login screen ever.

–> Credits go to two artists from our community: Zwopper for the background (called Mint-Dew) and Cathbard for the logo. We also need to credit the artwork it’s based on, Shiki and Arc-Colors. There are discussions within the team about the logo being hidden. I think it looks fine but Exploder, Zwopper and Cathbard are looking into improving it, either by removing the logo or by moving it elsewhere.

Daniel says: “The wallpaper displays a green cloudy sky seen through a window covered with water drops โ€“ a great choice, as it’s non-intrusive and lets you read the white icon text without having to squint. Felicia was more on the black side so it’s nice to see more green from a minty distribution. Of course, the old themes and wallpapers are still available, as not everybody will be pleased with Gloria’s default artwork.

–> I have to be honest with you, I thought we were taking a risk with this. I personally love the new artwork but I saw it as some kind of “love it / hate it” kind of thing. The decision was to feature it prominently in the RC release and then to go back to the previous one as default for the stable release. I hear a lot of people saying great things about it though and I don’t know what to think. I want to wait until the novelty factor is gone and see what people think before we can make up our minds. Whatever we decide these two themes will be installed by default of course so switching between them will remain extremely easy.

Daniel said: “I frugally mentioned something about the Mint Menu, but I like it so much that I have to write more about it. At first, one will think that it’s the same old expanded GNOME menu, but Linux Mint has some aces up its sleeve.

–> The features in mintMenu aren’t well known at all by most of our users. I see people people launching Synaptic just to remove an application, I see people searching down the list for what they’re looking for.. looking at items one by one with the empty filter at the bottom, most people never use the favorites…etc. It think we need to take the aces up our sleeves and put them on the table for everybody to see. We started a screencast project which unfortunately didn’t succeed, we’ll need to take the matter into our own hands and dedicate time to make these features known.

Daniel said: “I have no doubts that Gloria will be a glorious release!

–> Oh no, here we go with the puns. I should have thought about that before calling her like that… ๐Ÿ™‚

30 comments

  1. That’s now two good reviews, and you’ve only got as far as the RC!! I’ve been using it heavily for the last few days, and can honestly say I really, really like the default wallpaper (though I have to admit I thought it was just a waterballoon effect before someone pointed out the clouds) and gdm (I agree the logo shouldn’t be hidden, I like dlkreations implementation: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=25194&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=15#p148098)

    However, I’m not a fan of the dark theme, so I reverted to “Linux Mint” (I also think it’s cool you can try out all the previous release themes).

  2. Its still in RC so I’m pretty sure since it was in 6 it will be in 7. I have also noticed that my ATI graphics card is supported in 6 but noy 7 so I’m sure it will have the same driver stuff in 7, I love how my Ralink wifi card is suported in 7 took me about 3 hours to get it to work in 6. But over all great OS. Love it!

  3. Hi,
    I am using Ubuntu 9.04 and would like to install Mint7 Gnome and GDM theme. How can I do that? Is there a .deb I could grab or a repository for Jaunty?

  4. i’m not sure about incompatibility with intel chips. but if it is an issue with ubuntu 9.04 then it will carry over to here. if you want to look up info on your specific configuration you might find a walkthru on the ubuntu forums. try doing a google search for “your chip/motherboard (whatever the problem is with) ubuntu 9.04”

  5. Sounds like Gloria will be a nice addition to the Linux Mint family,
    I have never been disappointed yet, and people seem to really digging the new features!

  6. Clem: Thanks a lot. Unfortunately, it wants to remove ubuntu-artwork… I extracted the .deb and took out the GDM theme instead.

  7. Favorites?!?! You kidding? I try to use ONLY that and for the occasions I need something not on favorites, I use the filter. Great implementation and very very intuitive.

  8. Another great review for an RC. Awesome!

    To the users mentioning intel problems: The intel chipset issue is an upstream problem. It’s marked in the Ubuntu Jaunty Release Notes. I remember reading about it when I read the release notes for Mint and then Jaunty to be sure I would not encounter any serious issues. I hope that there is a fix for it. It must be frustrating.

    I’m fortunate as all my computer hardware works OTB (out of the box) with Mint. Very thankful for this release. I love it. ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. It’s great to see the positive reviews keep coming in. Any estimates on when the stable release will be out?

  10. Clem found that it is not really possible to solve the Intel problem
    He got problems regardless of if he applied the fixes in the Ubuntu forum or not
    So if you are in the unhappy third or so that get bad graphics with Intel you have to try to fix it yourself – sorry

  11. linux mint 7 need codes so elisa media center cn word all so clamtk needs updating

  12. Wow, seeing my artwork be used for Gloria makes me a very happy camper. *runs off to the nearest laptop with an RC1 copy*

  13. clem do you know if the Brightness control works with mint 7? im using Ubuntu 9.04 on my new sony vaio FW 292 and i cannot change the brightness! ๐Ÿ™ if mint 7 has that issue resolved i’;; switch instantly.

  14. Been using Mint for almost two years now, and have to say, the new green design is … awesome!
    Keep it!!!

  15. This will be my first time trying Linux Mint, so I’m waiting for the stable release. I will say that I really like the theme shown in that release candidate review though. My suggestion would be to use the green water drop background by default, as it’s a lot brighter and more friendly in appearance than the Mint 6 theme, which might make it more attractive to those new to Mint, or Linux in general. Then again, I am partial to rainy days, clouds, and the color green, so make of that what you will.

    As for the logo, I think it looks fine, and prominently displaying it on the desktop provides brand recognition. The centered placement feels balanced, and reminds me a bit of looking into a reflection of the sky in a car’s wet hood. I do think it might be nice to include an alternate version of the wallpaper without a logo though.

    Anyone who decides they don’t like the new look has the option to revert to a prior one, but for those new to Linux Mint, I feel this theme should provide an excellent first impression.

  16. I can’t wait for the new linuxmint 7. I hope the new Linuxmint to run in my motherboard (Asus p4pe) because the older didn’t run ๐Ÿ™
    I’m using Windows 7 RC now in my desktop pc and I have to say is more stupid and slow than Vista..

  17. i asked if linux is going to need more and more hardware or if its going to always be a better choice and i got deleted WTF tell me

  18. Great Review for a great OS! I’ve been loving the RC all day, with only three rough spots so far. No driver included for Broadcom 43xx wireless (I know, it’s proprietary), gDesklets needs python 2.5minimal, and there has to be a simpler way to change icon font color other than creating a file named .gtkrc-2.0 to force it.
    Thanks for all the great work!!!

  19. Re. the theme, I was blown away when I booted up the RC for Mint 7. I’ve always hated dark themes with a passion, not least of all because people rave about them and demand them nonstop. I far prefer human to any of the dark themes available in Ubuntu. But the black and green just works! Unlike the black-and-grey or black-and-brown configurations I’ve seen before, the green is a great highlight for the black, and it really makes Shikimint a unique theme!

  20. One more vote for keeping the RC theme as the default on for Gloria. It is just amazing and I am sure it will make heads turn (which means more publicity for Mint). Whether we want it or not, the interface weighs A LOT when people consider switching to a different distro. And seriously why would one even consider reverting to the blunt Felicia theme?

  21. Yeah, keep the new theme, it’s really beautiful, more beautiful than the Mint 6 theme. It’s the kind of thing that turns heads.

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