Cinnamon desktop developed by Developer(s) Linux Mint team! – is a beautiful desktop (default on Linux Mint) alternative to Gnome2 MATE.

BUT: still prefer Gnome2 MATE (at least on GNU Debian Linux) because it is:

• minimalistic / very resource efficient
• very very solid
• the system preferences is the same as MATE (OSX like (!) VERY VERY GOOD!
• 

the fancy 3D Cube Workspace switching is done with the hotkey: Ctrl+Alt+Cursor+(Left|Right)

having worked many many years with the outstanding minimalistic (Mac-like control menu) Gnome2 MATE, wanted to reinstall the laptop Lenovo t440 with Debian 9.8 and encrypted lvm partition.

so installed Debian Cinnamon Desktop for a ride.

so swapped the ssd, reinstalled Debian 9.8 from scratch, selected the Cinnamon Desktop on install, 1400 Packages later you are welcomed with a stylish Desktop full of animations.

this is day 3.

About: “Cinnamon is a free and open-source desktop environment for the X Window System that derives from GNOME 3 but follows traditional desktop metaphor conventions.

Cinnamon is the principal desktop environment of the Linux Mint distribution and is available as an optional desktop for other Linux distributions and other Unix-like operating systems as well.

The development of Cinnamon began as a reaction to the April 2011 release of GNOME 3 in which the conventional desktop metaphor of GNOME 2 was abandoned in favor of GNOME Shell.

Following several attempts to extend GNOME 3 such that it would suit the Linux Mint design goals, the Mint developers forked several GNOME 3 components to build an independent desktop environment.

Separation from GNOME was completed in Cinnamon 2.0, which was released in October 2013.

Applets and desklets are no longer compatible with GNOME 3.

As the distinguishing factor of Linux Mint, Cinnamon has generally received favorable coverage by the press, in particular for its ease-of-use and gentle learning curve. With respect to its conservative design model, Cinnamon is similar to the Xfce and GNOME 2 (MATE and GNOME Flashback/Classic) desktop environments.” (src: Wikipedia)

Pros:

• touchpad works pretty well on it (also the special keys)
  • you only have to touch it gently to make a mouse click, not completely press the whole touchpad down (which you can also do, it’s a little like on a Macbook except that the whole touchpad is one giant button)
• recovery from standby/sleep (closing the laptop lid, reopen it) works flawless (MATE Gnome2 had some problems here)
• if you need the style, animations, applets, desklets, themes
  • 3D cube effect extension for workspaces switching (Ctrl+Alt+Cursor Left or Right)
• fancy bluetooth control software preinstalled
  • how to switch off bluetooth if you are not using it (without disabling wifi (sometimes it’s the same chip))
  • This post and others suggest doing

    # the service will automatically restart, when you stop it
    # sudo service bluetooth stop
    # so running this (on startup) is sufficient:
    apt install rfkill
    sudo rfkill block bluetooth 

Cons:

• wonder if the usage of JavaScript is (security wise?) a good idea?
• probably needs a little more RAM than MATE Gnome2
• Firefox 60.8.0esr (64-bit) (currently latest) experiences some random crashes?

Same:

• superb performance, boot up time, reaction time, smooth user experience 🙂 (CONGRATULATIONS ALL INVOLVED! 🙂
• instead of Alt+F2 to have a nice menu to launch an program/App you use the Win-key and type the name and hit enter (same same but different)
• the “Start” Menu is bottom left corner instead of top left AND opens by pressing the “Win” key (good for ex-Win-OS dependent slaves)
• 2-finger.touchpad-scroll (MultiScroll/MultiTouch) works well
• default Hotkey Win+D shows desktop
• renaming with F2 only works in one out of two file managers X-D (not in Nemo but in “Files“)
• switching wifis does not work well for the Lenovo t440 (03:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Wireless 7260 (rev 83): solution: use the wifi network manager, stop the current connection, hit “play” on the connection you want.
  • the same problem was under Gnome2 MATE, where one first hits “disconnect” and then the wifi you want.

Confusing:

• what is the difference between Extensions, Applets and Desklets? X-D

well done: sound manager, you can even “overload” output by up to 153%

hotkeys: are important

seems they are the same as Linux MINT

Ctrl + Alt + L = Lock the screen

 

fazit:

if you want a rock solid desktop that consumes as little resources as possible, MATE Gnome2 is your buddy.

If you want a little more style you might take Cinnamon for a spin.

it seems you can install Linux Mint (Debian based with Cinnamon Desktop?) on some (not all) Macbook Pros. 😉 nice 😉

https://blog.bangbits.com/2013/02/installing-linux-mint-on-macbook-air.html

torvalds and the linux desktop:

https://chromeunboxed.com/news/chrome-os-linux-debian-packages-chromebook-crostini

2011: Linux Mint’s Cinnamon: A GNOME 3.x shell fork

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols | December 26, 2011, 10:14am PST

Summary: GNOME 3.2 keeps losing fans so leading Linux desktop distribution Mint turns its attention to forking the GNOME shell into a GNOME 2.x like desktop: Cinnamon.

Links:

https://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/

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