Ubuntu Unity 14.04 or Mint Cinnamon 17 ?

[Dr. McKay]

I'm torn. Been doubting for months about which distro to use.
I said to myself I'd wait until Mint 17 came out to make a decision. But still, cannot decide.

Coming from a Mac background (15 years), Ubuntu would be the obvious choice since Unity borrows a lot of elements from Mac OS.
I've tried Mint Cinnamon as well, and it's very polished. I don't, however, like the default look since it looks too much like Windows. Of course, it's always possible to customize the desktop, add a dock etc.

On top of that, the Mint team has announced that every next new release of Mint would be based on Ubuntu 14.04 LTS, until 16.04 LTS comes out.
Ubuntu, however, will just continue to release new versions as usual.
In any case, Mint's decision is a big deal and it might even be the deal maker for me.
But I, surprisingly, like Unity better than Cinnamon.
For sure, 14.04 is a solid base and there's support for years to come. But Mint might offer both a stable base AND new features with the upcoming releases of Mint 18, 19, 20 and 21.

The real question is : what will I be missing out on when I stick with Ubuntu 14.04 for two years ?

[PondPuppy]

I don't think you'll be missing out. I use Unity with CairoDock, which seems somewhat Mac-like to me. I also use Mint Cinnamon often, and like it a lot. But I come from Windows, so menu + taskbar seems natural. And I'm pretty slow to upgrade... if something works I tend to just go on using it.

If you want to update Ubuntu to the 6-month releases, then you would get new features there too. Might be exciting, as Canonical pushes forward! Or, as you mention, you could customize Mint to your taste with a more Mac-like GUI and follow their release cycle instead.

[Dr. McKay]

I don't think you'll be missing out. I use Unity with CairoDock, which seems somewhat Mac-like to me. I also use Mint Cinnamon often, and like it a lot. But I come from Windows, so menu + taskbar seems natural. And I'm pretty slow to upgrade... if something works I tend to just go on using it.

If you want to update Ubuntu to the 6-month releases, then you would get new features there too. Might be exciting, as Canonical pushes forward! Or, as you mention, you could customize Mint to your taste with a more Mac-like GUI and follow their release cycle instead.

Well, upgrading every six months is not what I had in mind. I want to go for stability so an LTS version is the way to go.
My biggest concern is not getting the newest version of applications that I might need when I stick to Ubuntu 14.04.
I think browsers are ok, although not being able to have the latest version of Chrome would be a deal breaker for me.

What I meant was, with Mint sticking to the same base, it will be very easy to upgrade to Mint 18, 19 etc. Not so with Ubuntu 14.04 because 14.10 and later versions will use a different base.
But to put it briefly : will I be able to use the lastest version of apps in, say 18 months ? Will Steam, Chrome, LibreOffice etc keep updating to the latest versions on 14.04 until 16.04 comes out ?

And on a side note : you say you use Unity with cairodock, which sounds a bit too much of a good thing to me. I mean, two docks ?

[PondPuppy]

Maybe upgrading Mint from 17 to 18 would be easier than upgrading Ubuntu from 14.04 to 14.10. I can't say.

Don't Mint and Ubuntu use the same software repositories? So would any updated application be available to both Ubuntu and Mint at the same time? Again, just thinking out loud.

Docks: Yeah, I like to auto-hide the Unity dock. CairoDock holds my most-used applications and a few gadgets. Heck, I end up having two application menus as well as the docks... Everyone develops their own ergonomics, I suppose. All good.

[buzzingrobot]

The real question is : what will I be missing out on when I stick with Ubuntu 14.04 for two years ?

Well, if you stay on either Ubuntu 14.04 or Mint Cinnamon 17 for two years you'll be missing out on the same things. Or not. Whatever updates Canonical brings to 14.04 will be available to Mint 17 users.

I spent many years with OS X and Linux together. I still find that I'm most comfortable using a dock of some kind. In Cinnamon, the panel can be moved to the top, and a dock added, which provides a look familiar to OS X users.

Whether that would *function* in a familiar way depends on how someone used OS X. I'm less fond of Cinnamon, even with a dock, because of the way it handles workspaces. I typically open a number of applications on several workspaces, one app per workspace. I want to be able to move between those apps with a single mouse click. That's either the default behavior or easily configured behavior in many desktop environments. In stock Cinnamon, it is less convenient. Cinnamon provides a panel applet allowing switching between workspaces by number. But, it lacks the pager other panel-based GUI's offer that indicates all open applications and allows one-click switching without needing to remember what is located on which workspace.

[grahammechanical]

The Mint developers can only claim that every new release will be built on Ubuntu 14.04 because Canonical is supporting 14.04 for the next 5 years. During the next two years 14.04 will get 5 point releases, which bring into 14.04 the latest Linux kernel support for newer hardware. If the new Mint releases are not going to be built on those 14.04 point releases then Mint is going to fall behind on hardware support. So, in this matter I do not see Mint having an advantage over Ubuntu.

It all comes down to a matter of taste. With Ubuntu if you want stability you install an LTS release. If you want new features, then you install an interim release. Keep in mind that Ubuntu 16.04 will be built on a very different code base to the present 14.04 code base. To start with, 16.04 will be running on Mir and have Unity 8. What will the Mint developers do then? Choices will have to be made and some developers may no longer be able to claim that their distribution is built on Ubuntu if they do not accept Mir. It will also mean a lot more work for them.

Regards.

[Dr. McKay]

Will Steam, Chrome, LibreOffice etc keep updating to the latest versions on 14.04 until 16.04 comes out ?

... is what matters, really.
So, will they ?

[craig10x]

If you use the actual Google Chrome as i do, Google puts a ppa in your software sources, so you always get the latest Chrome as soon as it is released...
Libre Office gets updates through Canonical i believe....not sure about steam, though...
I think also Pidgin messenger, but i don't think you get new versions of vlc and rhythmbox for example...depends on the program...some we do...some we don't....

I used Mac for about a year before discovering Linux and i love Ubuntu with Unity because it IS very mac like...i would stick with Ubuntu w/unity...
I was on Linux mint for a few years when ubuntu had it's old 2 panel and fan out apps style menu...because i preferred mint's slab menu and lower panel over that...
Once Ubuntu got unity i was back in a FLASH

[LastDino]

I never used Mac but hell, I love all the versions of Ubuntu (with the exception of Lubuntu). And like Craig10x mentioned, Chrome adds PPA in resource list and you get those updates irrespective of which OS you end up with out of the two in question.

If stability is in question, I would pick Ubuntu LTS any day if I was in your place. But do that after 14.04.1 is out just to be more sure.

[Dr. McKay]

I've got both a desktop and a laptop. I just installed Ubuntu 14.04 on the laptop so let's see how it goes