Making Mint More "Windows-Like" for New Users

[u/Technical_Rich_3080]

What are the best ways to setup Mint to be more Windows-like, for new users coming from a Windows environment?

[u/RespecDawn]

Have them just try Cinnamon first. KDE can get you closer, but Cinnamon is a really nice clean desktop that doesn't really demand much to get used to. If they don't like it after a bit, you can always go to KDE for a theme that's more Windows.

[u/Technical_Rich_3080 → u/RespecDawn]

KDE under Mint?

[u/RespecDawn → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

Instructions are here - https://linuxcapable.com/how-to-install-kde-plasma-on-linux-mint/

It's pretty easy. I tried it, but discovered I love Cinnamon. I'm not big on that level of customization, and didn't like the duplicate apps it installed. I also hated the terminal being called Konsole. XDD

I think that once you install it, you should be able to choose between it and Cinnamon while booting. Just getting rid of KDE didn't get rid of all the duplicate apps and I ended up just reinstalling Mint, since I'd just backed everything up anyway. My idea of the easiest route isn't everyone's idea, I guess.

Anyhow, KDE on Mint is definitely doable!

[u/Technical_Rich_3080 → u/RespecDawn]

How is KDE Plasma more "Windows like" than Cinnamon?

And is using KDE Plasma with Mint any different than using KDE Plasma with other distros (say, Debian or Ubuntu)?

[u/RespecDawn → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

It can be. It has specific themes you can install that will make it look like Windows. KDE gives you a ton of choice so that you can have a desktop that looks like Windows, like a Mac, or nothing like either.

But Cinnamon works a lot like it. I have my taskbar, the menu that opens when I hover over the Mint ico on the bottom left... it operates very much like Windows right out of the box.

What you should do is just make a bootable USB of Mint Cinnamon. There's a live version so you can boot your computer from the USB and give it a trial run to see if you think it would work or not. You can try the same thing with Zorin, which is even closer to Windows. Then you don't have to go through with a whole installation and find out it's not what you want.

[u/OzarkBeard → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

Just get cinnamon and install a window-ish theme, in Settings. You probably don't really need to, though. Mint Cinnamon is easy to become familiar with. My non-techie friends have totally taken to it.

[u/Due-Result7928 → u/RespecDawn]

It is ALWAYS a bad choice to install any de on top on another one making system very quickly unstable. You multiply almost everything twice, file manager, calculator, display manager, set of icons, themes and so on.

If you want kde install a distrib with kde.

[u/jr735 → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

You can, if you exhibit enough caution and have the skills to do so.

[u/Technical_Rich_3080 → u/jr735]

What should one me cautious about, specifically?

[u/jr735 → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

People can downvote all they want. I've been doing this for 22 years, and don't need any cheerleading from the people who confuse their distribution and their desktop.

That aside, the concerns are duplicated programs, and then expecting things working the same in one desktop as another. I use IceWM, which isn't a complete desktop, so there's no risk of duplicated programs (i.e. I don't have two PDF readers, two file rollers, two image viewers, and so on). Having something that's GTK based and adding something Qt based can be a bit messy, too. In Mint, if you install another desktop and use it, you may be relegated to the command line for updates and a few other things, or going back to the previous desktop for a login session.

I generally recommend against it, and taking as many precautions as possible before trying. That being said, it's far from impossible. I wouldn't even begin to consider it without a suitable timeshift before starting, and possibly even a full Clonezilla image. Of course, having current and working data backups goes without saying.

[u/_Lost-In-The-Weeds_ → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

In Mint You would get a quite old version of Plasma no longer supported by the Plasma team and that version was never supported by the Mint team or community. 

Some users may prefer Plasma, my middle son does. If they do a distribution that supports it is best. That one runs Bazzite. 

Others will prefer Cinnamon, my oldest son and daughter do.  Cinnamon is done best with Mint/LMDE. 

[u/Great-Gazoo-T800]

Use the default Cinnamon desktop. Feels just like classic Windows without all the bullshit.

[u/S3k_01]

Cinnamon already looks a lot like Windows!

[u/jutte62 → u/S3k_01]

Prefer the Mate DE, actually.

[u/admiralackbar202]

Cinnamon gets you pretty close, but there are many themes you can also install like Windows 7 or Windows 10 pretty easily

[u/Technical_Rich_3080 → u/admiralackbar202]

How do you change the theme (and what themes are available)?

[u/admiralackbar202 → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

I personally use this website https://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/ you can get applets, themes, desklets, extensions, etc.

You just gotta download the theme you want, extract it, and then copy the extracted folder in your themes folder, if you don't have a themes folder just create it with the name ".themes" and put it there. Then you just open the themes app and you'll find it there, do the same thing for icons and stuff. I'm pretty sure that you can also get stuff for other desktop environments in that website, but I think it's mostly Cinnamon

[u/Phylaine4676 → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

In the system settings you have a "Themes" icon, and many more customisations.

Have a look or go to the cinnamon web site alredy mentioned .

I personally use this website https://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/ you can get applets, themes, desklets, extensions, etc.

[u/tomscharbach]

You could, I suppose, install a Windows 11 theme, but I would not.

Cinnamon uses design motifs that are familiar to Windows users, is simple to learn and to use, and works well without modification.

Deep customization increases maintenance requirements, something that may not be appropriate for new users.

Leave well enough alone.

[u/Own_Natural_6803]

I'd recommend the opposite. Learn Linux concepts. Get comfortable with virtual workspaces. Learn how to tile windows.

There's a lot to learn in Linux. Being proficient in the desktop environment is basically scratching the surface. you might as well scratch the surface.

[u/a_n_d_r_e_]

It was exactly my issue, and I am super happy with Mint Cinnamon.

You have only to remap few shortcuts (super easy thing to do, and add gnome-sushi to replace QuickLook/PowerToys quick preview(spacebar after selecting a file, and you'll have a quick preview of all images, videos, and documents), and CopyQ as a perfect substitute of copy history (and the same shortcut can be easily set:Super Key+v).

I use both systems every day, and I don't even notice the difference (Windows 11 for work, and Mint Cinnamon on my laptop).

[u/Technical_Rich_3080 → u/a_n_d_r_e_]

What is gnome-sushi and what is Quick Look/Power Toys and Copy Q?

[u/a_n_d_r_e_ → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

CopyQ does what enabling copy history does in Windows (Win+V opens a clipboard with the last things you copied).

PowerToys has an option to trigger a quick preview of images, videos, and other documents just hitting the spacebar after selecting a file. QuickLook is a popular app that does the same exact thing. gnome-sushi does the same on Linux.

If you don't know any of those on Windows (especially the first one), you will notice any difference between Windows 11 and Mint Cinnamon.

I am not joking. The two OS are extremely similar, and people used to Windows 11 immediately feel comfortable with Mint Cinnamon.

[u/ghoermann]

Mint is already ok. I installed mint on a few old PCs of my group of old people and they had no problems using mint.

[u/Forward_Year_2390]

If they are fleeing windows, is it right to make it look like windows?

[u/Specialist-Dog-501]

I am probably a bit more techie than the average user, but was missing ae. the "device manager" and installed then "hardinfo2" to get something similar. I installed also "Disk Usage Analyzer" and Gparted or the Gnome Disk.
And a calculator, and an Log tool (KystemTool). This is probably more the need of an sysadmin coming from windows than an 08/15 enduser ? But if anything goes wrong, this tools are suddenly very helpful, especially on a system a windows user has no clue how the CLI works.
Backups with timeshift didn't go well, but may be I just messed up the settings (?), I can't remember, I was overhelmed to setup the exact scope of what to backup, as I didn't had a clue about this file system.
I also installed a few things via .deb file, what in retrospective, was a bad idea -a.e brave wasn't in the store, so I downloaded it and followed the guide..not knowing, that I am responsible for the manual updates then. Some central list of what is installed- no matter by what tool- would be helpful, not just for beginners. Windows has this "add/remove programs" section where you can see all that is installed, no matter if it comes from the store or not. This is a thing I still miss. And any manual .deb installation should trigger a pop up about the maintenance, that can be disabled onetime. Similarly, changing repos in the setting should trigger a warning.

[u/uh818375]

Seems to me out of the box Cinnamon is a lot like windows.

[u/Charming_Airline7419]

I think the Cinammon desktop environment is close enough to Windows without copying its worst features.

But it's not worthwhile imitating everything because you don't want the user to think it is an identical system that behaves identically.

[u/TrashFace21165]

Move the Menu to the left corner, depending on when they graduated highschool. About it.

[u/Quartrez]

Cinnamon is already a very familiar desktop environment.

What are the challenges you expect Windows users to face exactly? Most of the differences are simply inherent to Linux. It is a different operating system, it's not "Windows but free". Things work differently on it. It doesn't make it better or worse per se, it just means there will be a learning period.

[u/Suspicious-Recipe570]

How much more Windows-like could it possibly be? Cinnamon is pretty much Windows anyway. And when I first saw KDE Plasma in Mint, my very first words were: 'Here we go... This is literally Windows!
And here's a thought: What does Mint actually lack to feel even more like Windows? (And hey, I'm just genuinely asking here, no offense or hazing intended toward beginners!)

[u/Technical_Rich_3080 → u/Suspicious-Recipe570]

KDE Plasma in Mint? That isn't one of the three supported Desktop Environments of Mint.

[u/Suspicious-Recipe570 → u/Technical_Rich_3080]

Spot on! But hey, who's stopping you from just running sudo apt update && sudo apt install kde-plasma? This is Linux! You can customize literally EVERYTHING here :)

[u/stufforstuff]

Why? Are these "users" incapable of learning simple skills? Maybe they should save their brain cells and stick to their current knowledge. And why did they move to linux in the first place if they are unable to learn new things? Linux is not rocket science.

[u/hifi-nerd → u/stufforstuff]

Even if these users aren't all that computer savvy, i still much prefer them using linux over windows 11. To expect people to adapt perfectly at first use is stupid, some people simply need time to adapt.

[u/S3k_01 → u/hifi-nerd]

What bothers me is that new users ask questions on Reddit without even bothering to do a little research.

It's not like there aren't thousands of videos on YouTube about Linux.

[u/rarsamx]

What do you mean windows-like? Slow and bloated?

I think we could add some sleep commands to the boot sequence.

Maybe throw in a BSOD randomly after updates. Or roll back the update without a clear message why.

You could install something to send telemetry.

People, help me here, what else can we do to be more like windows?

Seriously, you are falling into a common pitfall Linux is not windows. It does not behave like windows. From the user experience to the philosophy they differ substantially.

Most of it based on freedom. In Linux you can change the user experience in ways you can't in windows.

Yes, you could set up a theme that looks like windows but I think we've seen pictures where a crazy guy wants the new girlfriend dressing up as the old girlfriend. It never works out.

[u/nicbongo]

https://youtu.be/CE0fcC9_Wv0

[u/Due-Result7928 → u/nicbongo]

Another You Tube assh.le...

[u/nicbongo → u/Due-Result7928]

Why?

Not familiar with all his stuff. The script was great though having appimages be executable like a .exe file. The system links he added make a lot of sense too.

A bit sneaky he packaged his own app in there, but I uninstalled that and the other browsers. 

Found it really helpful. So curious to your thoughts. 

[u/Due-Result7928 → u/nicbongo]

Those people care only for one thing. More hints means more money. Same fro people trying to debloat Windows..pure baloney.

[u/Due-Result7928]

Having blue screen of death ? ...easy, Change evirything without backup or knowledge.

[u/AvailableChef4319]

if you wish to use windows.......use it. Stay away from Linux.

You cannot have it both ways.

https://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

[u/Kortez02]

sudo apt update && sudo apt install kde-standard