Keep the Windows 3.1 - 10 basic GUI / desktop layout as default, offer Windows 11 / Mac as an option.

[beng-tang]

Many people who use Linux Mint are people, like me, who switched to Linux from MS Windows. As Microsoft adds more and more annoying and malicious software features to Windows, more people will make this switch. For me, I settled on using Linux Mint as my daily driver after trying several other distros like Linux Lite, Zorin OS, Lubuntu, LXDE, Bodhi, and MX Linux for the following reasons:

1. The user interface looks and works like the versions of Windows that I liked, or at least, am used to using so the learning curve is easy. It has many apps or features that make controlling the hardware easy (egs.: connecting to wifi, sharing folders over a network, adjusting screen resolution, connecting to a projector, mounting drives, managing files).

2. It is based on Ubuntu and therefore has very good hardware compatibility (a lot of hardware, if it provides any drivers or support for Linux, supports Ubuntu) and the largest amount of available software (again, many Windows software titles like games or VPN clients, if they provide Linux versions, often have only Ubuntu versions). As Ubuntu concentrates on snaps, the advantage of Ubuntu over other distros in terms of (non-snap) software availability may diminish and I may switch to something Debian based like LMDE or MX Linux in future, but for now Ubuntu-based is still better.

3. It uses much less system resources than Windows, so it runs faster on any hardware, and will run on older hardware that Windows 11 will not run on. Microsoft expects people to buy new hardware just to run their new version of Windows. This is a waste of money and bad for the environment. An OS should enable the user to use the user's existing hardware, not force the user to buy new hardware. The Xfce edition of Mint is especially low on system resources and that is the version I run as daily driver. Even when I bought a brand new powerful PC this year because my old motherboard failed, I chose to stick with Mint Xfce because why waste RAM and CPU cycles on the OS? I did not buy a computer in order to run the OS, I bought it to run programmes like office software, web browsers, video editors, games etc. The OS should take up as little system resources as possible so the programmes I actually want to use run faster.

4. There is very good support for Linux Mint via forums and many articles on the web. It is actively being developed and supported.

Coming back to point 1 - the look and feel of the Dekstop. A great advantage of Linux Mint for people coming from Windows is how the desktop environment looks and feels like the good parts of Windows, without the annoying parts like unwanted ads. However, there is a big difference between Windows versions 3.1 to 10, and Windows 11. From Windows 3.1 to 10, the changes and differences from one version to another were gradual, and many things stayed the same. There was a task bar at the bottom with a start menu on the left and a tray on the right containing the clock and icons for network connections etc. The start menu contained a list of programmes, accessories, system tools and so on, as well as buttons to shut down or log out or switch user. Some versions had a search box where you could type to find programmes. Windows 11 tries to look more like MacOS but this makes it hard to use and no longer intuitive for long time Windows users, which is why many Windows users are sticking to Windows 10 and not "upgrading" to Windows 11. However, Windows 10 support will end in October 2025 (no more security updates etc) so Windows 10 users will be forced to change OS if they care about security. Many of these Windows 10 users may switch to Linux Mint instead of Windows 11 because Linux Mint feels more familiar and easier to use than Windows 11.

Therefore, I would like to suggest that the Linux Mint (Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce) development team keep the existing Windows 7-10 like look of the Linux Mint GUI. Keep the default pannel / task bar at the bottom with the start menu on the left and the Network, USB, clock etc on the right. Keep the double click to open things convention of Windows and the Windows-like desktop icons like trash and file manager. Some Youtube reviews of Linux Mint 22 complain that it looks exactly the same as Linux Mint 21 but to me, that is a good thing. Because it looks the same, people who are used to using Windows 10 or Linux Mint 21, find it very easy to use Linux Mint 22. So please, do keep it looking the same as this is probably what the majority of Linux Mint users want.

To cater to the few people who prefer a Windows 11 or MacOS look, you could add theme options for those that people can enable, but keep the default look and feel of the Desktop environment similar to what it is with Mint 22.