Linux Mint

Recently, I've installed Linux Mint 12 on my computer.


Motivation
I was running an older Ubuntu release for quite awhile, and decided it was time to upgrade. I got a chance to see Unity when I installed Ubuntu on my brother's computer. I was not impressed with it.

So I decided to check DistroWatch to check out which alternatives were popular. I saw Mint on the top of the list and decided to give it a shot.


Results
Mint with GNOME 3 is pretty cool. There are a few things I'd like to fix when I get some time, but the learning curve from Ubuntu (non-Unity) to Mint hasn't been bad.


Pros

1. All the benefits of the Ubuntu repositories.
2. Some handy keyboard shortcuts make things easy.

Windows or Alt+F1 - Spread all my windows out and let me choose one OR type to search for applications OR hit Escape to cancel. (This also happens when you put the mouse in the upper-left corner.)

Alt+F2 - No-nonsense simple prompt to enter a command in the middle of the screen. (Very handy when you know the command line name for an application, and don't want to search for it in the menu system.)

Windows+D - Hide/Show all application windows.

Ctrl+Alt+T - Brings up a terminal. (I changed it to Ctrl+`)

Cons

1. I miss the System Monitor applet from GNOME 2, and the best System Monitor extension is not compatible with GNOME 3.2.

Conclusion

I can live and work with Linux Mint. GNOME 3 is a little different from GNOME 2, but it's got some nice features. And I've still got everything I care about from Ubuntu.