Cinnamon Desktop Environment

[screaminj3sus]

Cinnamon 1.6.0 is very stable and it makes the right set of compromises and it balances the new features quite nicely. This is an intriguing desktop environment. It has a light weight and minimalist user interface, look, and feel while adding on useful new features:

http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/?p=195
http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2135

Notifications applet, configurable ALT+TAB, keyboard navigation, and Windows quick lists are alone worth the upgrade. These new features modernize the digital work flow and it makes Cinnamon 1.6.0 capable and proficient as a modern desktop environment. I have not tried the scale and expo new features yet, but I have enabled them.

I have not tested Cinnamon 1.6.0 extensively under very heavy digital work flows yet. However, I may stress test it today to see how it performs and what kind of system resources it consumes compared to Ubuntu Unity 5.6. So far, everything is working out smoothly without any problems. The notifications applet is quite unobtrusive and it still lets me know about important system messages or alerts stemming from Ubuntu, Cinnamon, or my social media accounts and e-mail messages. I haven't figured out how to configure the ALT+TAB feature yet, but I am working on it soon. My understanding is that it is similar to the Microsoft Windows 7 Aero Peek feature except it only works when using the ALT+TAB key combination together. So far, I don't know how to get it to work, but that is due to the fact that I just upgraded to Cinnamon 1.6.0 yesterday. The windows quick lists are another feature that I need to try out and learn about in depth. I have not figured out how to make it work yet.

The biggest difference between Cinnamon 1.4.1 and 1.6.0 is that it has a much more minimalist and cleaner look and feel. Everything is polished up quite a bit with Cinnamon 1.6.0. I am figuring that there will be point updates that will be released fairly soon to address specific Linux Mint users that are trying to figure out how to use these new features. According to GNOME system monitor and system load indicator, Cinnamon 1.6.0 consumes about 10 - 15 percent less system resources under moderate load conditions. This translates to a more responsive Ubuntu that is significantly faster. Working with multiple software applications and windows is smoother and more responsive. Fewer applications crash now and notifications are less prominent and they do not force you to shift your focus on each alert. The other big difference is the menu system is faster and smoother. Navigating through the menu system is easier and search results are more precise and faster. The Nemo file manager has a couple of new buttons that make searching for folders and files faster and easier with greater precision. It has better organization and a cleaner look and feel than Nautilus.

For those that prefer simpler and more functional desktop environments, Cinnamon 1.6.0 gets high marks. It's a bit easier to navigate and it's much faster and more responsive. One positive aspect is that it consumes less pixels of resolution on the screen or monitor which leaves more ample space to manage windows and software applications. I only have a low resolution 1366 X 768 HD resolution screen so this is critical. It's like Google Chrome web browser in that regard. You get more real estate to work on your stuff with fewer things getting in the way and fewer problems or crashes.

I can see why Cinnamon is so popular among Linux Mint users. One thing is that it does not require you to log out and log in as frequently to make changes take into effect. You can add applets, extensions, and themes and make changes instantly. It has a beautiful collection of wallpapers and themes.

I am finally getting more than 4 hours of battery life using Cinnamon 1.6.0 on my System76 Lemur Ultra Thin (lemu4) notebook PC which tells me that it consumes very little system resources.

I could not agree more. I've recently installed mint 14 on my lemur ultra, which comes with gnome 3.6/cinnamon 1.6.x. Cinnamon has greatly matured. Its not the prettiest DE around, but it has a very solid feature set, good configuration, its polished, and its biggest advantage compared to unity: Its rock stable. I haven't run into a single bug, everything just works properly. I actually really like unity, but I got sick and tired of noticing new compiz/unity bugs almost every day that I used it. Mint 14 with cinnamon is one of the most stable and trouble free linux experiences I've ever had. Cinnamon has struck a great balance between features, polish, and stability.

My thoughts as well. Why bother forking all these projects to create this "new" desktop when XFCE has been offering a similar desktop experience forever? And XFCE is rock solid.

XFCE is great, but IMO cinnamon has several big advantages. A big + for me is that its based on gnome-shell/mutter and has very solid compositing out of the box. XFCE's compositor is terrible (and useless because it uses xrender which can't eliminate tearing, which is half the reason I like using compositing). Cinnamon has nice features like scale and expo out of the box, and all very nicely integrated. Compiz + XFCE don't integrate as nicely. Cinnamon is also more modern and GTK3 based which is a preference of mine. XFCE has its advantages too, they are both very nice desktops, but they do serve different audiences, so I do not think cinnamon is "wasted effort". Since cinnamon 1.6 cinnamon is also rock solid, its now my preferred DE.

[Aaron Christianson]

[...] get the Cinnamon goodness for free.

You don't say?!

[orb9220]

Yep was away for a few years as Ubuntu didn't have the photography editing & processing tools I needed then.
So been a windows 7 guy.

For my need of higher end post processing and editing of raw images. And hate Gimp with a passion.

Came back to the Ubuntu to check on the progress and wasn't a happy camper about Unity so began the search and found Mint 14 Nadia Cinnamon. Coupled with RawTherapee and Darktable Might I very well may be around for awhile.

Loving how Cinnamon is coming running 1.6 and mint dropped Nautilus and going with Nemo 1.1.2 and seems a little less feature rich Nautilus but less bloat and troublesome Nautilus. And already fixes & added functionality is being done.

Who knows another 6 months will bring?
.