Linux Mint 13 KDE vs Kubuntu 12.04: Is Mint KDE really better?

[Superpelican12]

Hello everbody,

I'm trying to convert someone to a *buntu and I think KDE would be really perfect for him. However when I tried Kubuntu myself it ran decently, but I got a lot of crash reports etc. Also I read a few Kubuntu 12.04 reviews and they didn't seem to be really good either... Also a lot of people say Kubuntu is a bad KDE distro and much worse than the other *buntus. However most people seem to be really excited about Linux Mint KDE edition (which is based on Ubuntu, not Kubuntu).

So my question is: "Is Linux Mint KDE (as of version 13) really better than Kubuntu 12.04?"

I'm also looking at Cinnamon (which I'm probably going to "use" instead of KDE, if Linux Mint KDE is just as worse as Kubuntu). I myself am happily using Unity (it fits me just right), but I think maybe Unity is a bit to confusing (global menu bar, to distinguish running programs and closed programs in the dock etc.). However I myself am really fond of the search functionality and I would like to convert them to a *buntu distro which has a DE that also provides search (KDE, Unity and Cinnamon do). If XFCE had a search feature...

[nothingspecial]

Thread moved to Recurring Discussions.

[Superpelican12]

I'm sorry for posting this topic in the wrong section. I wasn't entirely sure in which I section I should post it...

BTW didn't know this was a recurring question, has it been asked many times before?

[coldraven]

I'm using Mint 13 Cinnamon (64bit) and it works mostly well. It has a clean modern look.
This laptop is five years old and the video card (ATI X1250) has some problems using the open source driver, the proprietry driver stopped being supported after about Ubuntu 9.04. I cannot run Unity for example, the 3D capabilities just cannot cope.
But if I switch off the Cinnamon effects it works fine.
The bad news is that the Mint Software Manager is very buggy and my keyboard randomly stops working

I'm thinking the same as you, shall I go for pure Kubuntu or try the Mint version. As I already have a memory card with the Kubuntu installer on it I might try that first.
Did you read this by any chance?
http://www.technewsworld.com/story/75903.html

[Erik1984]

I'm sorry for posting this topic in the wrong section. I wasn't entirely sure in which I section I should post it...

BTW didn't know this was a recurring question, has it been asked many times before?

In general "which distro is better" questions get moved to recurring.

OnT: I would be surprised if Linux Mint KDE performs significantly better or with less errors than Kubuntu. But I have no idea if package versions are different as Mint and Ubuntu have different release schedules.

[vasa1]

...
BTW didn't know this was a recurring question, has it been asked many times before?

Different people get different results ...

That's why, "Is A really better than B?" often ends up here

[cottfcfan]

I've played with both Distros, Kubuntu 12.04 is my main O/S.
From my own experience Mint 13 KDE, is no better than Kubuntu with all the codecs installed, and appearance settings tweaked.
In act if anything I feel Kubuntu is slightly quicker.

[Superpelican12]

Ok, thanks for the reply. For now I don't think it really matters as I'm stuck with trying to install Linux, see: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2043820

Also I decided to just choose Xubuntu. As the computer is going to be used as a real netbook. So the main requirement is that it boots really fast. And only few programs are going to be used (webbrowser, text editor etc.)

[Jakin]

I've played with both Distros, Kubuntu 12.04 is my main O/S.
From my own experience Mint 13 KDE, is no better than Kubuntu [snip]

I agree with cottfcfan, i have tried both distros, and i dont find either performs better than the other.
However i still went back to kubuntu 11.10- but thats a different story..

[ronnoc]

Hello. Long-time Mint KDE user who switched during 11.10 back to Kubunu. I can't see leaving for a number of reasons, which I'll save for a later discussion. But FWIW, and in case anyone else stumbles onto this thread, Kubuntu can run well on old hardware provided (2) important things: One, use a non-pae kernel (11.10 has this option still for sure), and Two, install the Kubuntu package kubuntu-lowfat-settings. The latter disables a lot of memory hogs like KRunner scripts and some nemomuk-akonadi-things. It makes a real difference!

Also, Kubuntu has a netbook interface included and can simply be turned on via a toggle in System Settings.

Kubuntu 12.04 is running just fine (and reasonably fast!) with the above settings on an old HP/Compaq nc6000 Pentium M notebook