{"slug": "cinnamon", "name": "Cinnamon", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "Traditional Linux desktop environment developed by the Linux Mint project.", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 9, "warners": 2, "score": 3.476, "rising": 2.35, "first": "2025-11-17", "latest": "2026-09-16", "why": "Liked for a familiar Windows-style layout that makes switching from Windows easy and for staying out of the way and simply working.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 2, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 1, 0], "listed": true, "loved": ["Just works", "Windows familiarity"], "caveat": "Wayland support", "short_quote": "Currently I use Cinnamon for years and couldn't be more happy.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://github.com/linuxmint/cinnamon", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Cinnamon"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for a familiar Windows-style layout that makes switching from Windows easy", "cites": [{"id": 787842273, "item_id": 49240142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49240142", "by": "raxxorraxor", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "excerpt": "For the Windows look and feel, I recommend Mint + Cinnamon. It took me about 15min to not miss anything on Windows and was shocked how I had forgotten how clean a system can be. Mandatory Windows accounts can still be circumvented with a console command for Win 11 installations, but the overall enshitification package just got worse and worse. Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}, {"id": 784471858, "item_id": 49029491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029491", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements.", "excerpt": "Depending on the machine I use. My laptop is one of the few machines that can run entirely on open source from Firmware, drivers all the way to the top. Thus I run Trisquel. Definitely not for everyone. But on other machines, I just run Mint. It is just a nice and comfortable thing. The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements. Not too ambitious but tha", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 735378945, "item_id": 45961184, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45961184", "by": "mmmpetrichor", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Mint 22 is amazing with cinnamon.", "excerpt": "I'm so glad linux is well polished enough now that I can finally use it as a daily desktop. Mint 22 is amazing with cinnamon. Switched from win11 about 2 months ago and have not once booted back to windows. first time I actually find my linux desktop experience is as good or better than windows.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders"}]}, {"text": " and for staying out of the way and simply working.", "cites": [{"id": 795739952, "item_id": 49733747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49733747", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal", "excerpt": "Cinnamon was what I used before KDE, I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal, if I had to go back it wouldn't cause me any issues, I only switched for Wayland support. So if you are happy on Cinnamon stay there (and it's Wayland support has caught up a lot). They both do an excellent job of not causing me pain, working the way I want and respecting me as a user, that's what a DE should be, if I", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review"}, {"id": 786661505, "item_id": 49166344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49166344", "by": "greatgib", "date": "2026-08-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Currently I use Cinnamon for years and couldn't be more happy.", "excerpt": "They indeed totally lost their way. I think that a relative success was very bad to drive the ego of a few wannabe designers. And since then, it is like selfish driven development and so I think that a lot of users like me moved away. Currently I use Cinnamon for years and couldn't be more happy. The following sentence shows the problem: First, shifting to a Flatpak-first (and only) model. As a solo developer, mainta", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "GNOME", "story": "The Future of Gnome Boxes"}, {"id": 784471858, "item_id": 49029491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029491", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements.", "excerpt": "Depending on the machine I use. My laptop is one of the few machines that can run entirely on open source from Firmware, drivers all the way to the top. Thus I run Trisquel. Definitely not for everyone. But on other machines, I just run Mint. It is just a nice and comfortable thing. The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements. Not too ambitious but tha", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is Wayland support that lagged behind other desktops", "cites": [{"id": 795739952, "item_id": 49733747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49733747", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal", "excerpt": "Cinnamon was what I used before KDE, I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal, if I had to go back it wouldn't cause me any issues, I only switched for Wayland support. So if you are happy on Cinnamon stay there (and it's Wayland support has caught up a lot). They both do an excellent job of not causing me pain, working the way I want and respecting me as a user, that's what a DE should be, if I", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review"}, {"id": 795358033, "item_id": 49709877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49709877", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon which I really liked", "excerpt": "Still supports a proper taskbar, one per screen with windows from only that screen on that screens taskbar (that's just how I've done it since the 90's but it's a must have because I think in terms of screen relations to where stuff is, it's my mental model) and virtual desktops (Cinnamon and XFCE both do this as do others) and it supports Wayland (which is why I'm not still on Cinnamon which I really liked as it's j", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cpak \u2013 OCI application package format for Linux desktops, servers and devices"}, {"id": 787842273, "item_id": 49240142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49240142", "by": "raxxorraxor", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "excerpt": "For the Windows look and feel, I recommend Mint + Cinnamon. It took me about 15min to not miss anything on Windows and was shocked how I had forgotten how clean a system can be. Mandatory Windows accounts can still be circumvented with a console command for Win 11 installations, but the overall enshitification package just got worse and worse. Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}]}, {"text": ", with some reports of UI freezes and crashes.", "cites": [{"id": 743332208, "item_id": 46458263, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458263", "by": "Pxtl", "date": "2026-01-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me.", "excerpt": "I've been giving Linux a go as a daily driver for a few months. I tried Cinnamon and while it was pleasantly customizable, the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me. It was too easy to do the wrong thing and lock the UI thread, including several desktop or tray Spices from the official repo. I'm switching to KDE. Seems peppier. Biggest hardware challenge I've faced is my Logitech mouse, which is a huge jump f", "context": "trying Linux as daily driver for a few months", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}, {"id": 743565104, "item_id": 46472819, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46472819", "by": "999900000999", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Cinnamon and Budgie both crashed.", "excerpt": "This is the reason Windows is essentially free. I believe once( this is an urban legend) a manufacturer in a middle income country considered going with Linux to save money and Microsoft flew out a sales rep next day to put a stop to it. Microsoft likes it when you get a \"deal\" and buy a pro key for 10$. Whatever, you'll subscribe to half a dozen Microwave services ideally paying them 30$ to 40$ a month forever. The ", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft kills official way to activate Windows 11/10 without internet"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Just works", "summary": "Commenters say it is stable, unobtrusive and does what they want.", "quotes": [{"id": 795739952, "item_id": 49733747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49733747", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal", "excerpt": "Cinnamon was what I used before KDE, I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal, if I had to go back it wouldn't cause me any issues, I only switched for Wayland support. So if you are happy on Cinnamon stay there (and it's Wayland support has caught up a lot). They both do an excellent job of not causing me pain, working the way I want and respecting me as a user, that's what a DE should be, if I", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review"}, {"id": 787842273, "item_id": 49240142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49240142", "by": "raxxorraxor", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "excerpt": "For the Windows look and feel, I recommend Mint + Cinnamon. It took me about 15min to not miss anything on Windows and was shocked how I had forgotten how clean a system can be. Mandatory Windows accounts can still be circumvented with a console command for Win 11 installations, but the overall enshitification package just got worse and worse. Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}, {"id": 784471858, "item_id": 49029491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029491", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements.", "excerpt": "Depending on the machine I use. My laptop is one of the few machines that can run entirely on open source from Firmware, drivers all the way to the top. Thus I run Trisquel. Definitely not for everyone. But on other machines, I just run Mint. It is just a nice and comfortable thing. The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements. Not too ambitious but tha", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}]}, {"label": "Windows familiarity", "summary": "Its Windows 7-like layout helped Windows users adjust quickly.", "quotes": [{"id": 787842273, "item_id": 49240142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49240142", "by": "raxxorraxor", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "excerpt": "For the Windows look and feel, I recommend Mint + Cinnamon. It took me about 15min to not miss anything on Windows and was shocked how I had forgotten how clean a system can be. Mandatory Windows accounts can still be circumvented with a console command for Win 11 installations, but the overall enshitification package just got worse and worse. Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}, {"id": 784471858, "item_id": 49029491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029491", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements.", "excerpt": "Depending on the machine I use. My laptop is one of the few machines that can run entirely on open source from Firmware, drivers all the way to the top. Thus I run Trisquel. Definitely not for everyone. But on other machines, I just run Mint. It is just a nice and comfortable thing. The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements. Not too ambitious but tha", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 735378945, "item_id": 45961184, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45961184", "by": "mmmpetrichor", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Mint 22 is amazing with cinnamon.", "excerpt": "I'm so glad linux is well polished enough now that I can finally use it as a daily desktop. Mint 22 is amazing with cinnamon. Switched from win11 about 2 months ago and have not once booted back to windows. first time I actually find my linux desktop experience is as good or better than windows.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders"}]}, {"label": "Long-term satisfaction", "summary": "Users report staying happily on it for years.", "quotes": [{"id": 786661505, "item_id": 49166344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49166344", "by": "greatgib", "date": "2026-08-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Currently I use Cinnamon for years and couldn't be more happy.", "excerpt": "They indeed totally lost their way. I think that a relative success was very bad to drive the ego of a few wannabe designers. And since then, it is like selfish driven development and so I think that a lot of users like me moved away. Currently I use Cinnamon for years and couldn't be more happy. The following sentence shows the problem: First, shifting to a Flatpak-first (and only) model. As a solo developer, mainta", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "GNOME", "story": "The Future of Gnome Boxes"}, {"id": 743759233, "item_id": 46484952, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46484952", "by": "chao-", "date": "2026-01-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I am also a caveman who still uses Cinnamon on X11", "excerpt": "I value and appreciate good documentation, and am continually disappointed at how overlooked it is in so many ecosystems. I am also a caveman who still uses Cinnamon on X11, but I use an old system to install and test other DEs once or twice a year, just to keep a sense of what exists out there. Over my 17 years running Linux, I think KDE is the major DE I have run the least, but I have to say: KDE has gotten really ", "context": "Linux user for 17 years", "use_case": "daily desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "KDE onboarding is good now"}, {"id": 795358033, "item_id": 49709877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49709877", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon which I really liked", "excerpt": "Still supports a proper taskbar, one per screen with windows from only that screen on that screens taskbar (that's just how I've done it since the 90's but it's a must have because I think in terms of screen relations to where stuff is, it's my mental model) and virtual desktops (Cinnamon and XFCE both do this as do others) and it supports Wayland (which is why I'm not still on Cinnamon which I really liked as it's j", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cpak \u2013 OCI application package format for Linux desktops, servers and devices"}]}, {"label": "Taskbar and workspaces", "summary": "Supports per-screen taskbars and virtual desktops.", "quotes": [{"id": 795358033, "item_id": 49709877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49709877", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon which I really liked", "excerpt": "Still supports a proper taskbar, one per screen with windows from only that screen on that screens taskbar (that's just how I've done it since the 90's but it's a must have because I think in terms of screen relations to where stuff is, it's my mental model) and virtual desktops (Cinnamon and XFCE both do this as do others) and it supports Wayland (which is why I'm not still on Cinnamon which I really liked as it's j", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cpak \u2013 OCI application package format for Linux desktops, servers and devices"}]}, {"label": "Modest hardware", "summary": "Ran adequately on a cheap 2019 laptop for daily use and development.", "quotes": [{"id": 773287025, "item_id": 48330439, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48330439", "by": "advael", "date": "2026-05-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I put arch with cinnamon on it and it was pretty damn adequate for my needs", "excerpt": "For most of 2024, my main daily driver laptop was a little pink chinese laptop from 2019 I bought on amazon for roughly $200. It was marketed toward communication students. I put arch with cinnamon on it and it was pretty damn adequate for my needs, serviceable for browsing, watching videos, and even some dinky games, and of course fine for development, able to run tiny prototype code locally and ssh into more powerf", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "It's hard to justify buying a Framework 12"}]}, {"label": "Customizable", "summary": "One user found it pleasantly customizable.", "quotes": [{"id": 743332208, "item_id": 46458263, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458263", "by": "Pxtl", "date": "2026-01-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me.", "excerpt": "I've been giving Linux a go as a daily driver for a few months. I tried Cinnamon and while it was pleasantly customizable, the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me. It was too easy to do the wrong thing and lock the UI thread, including several desktop or tray Spices from the official repo. I'm switching to KDE. Seems peppier. Biggest hardware challenge I've faced is my Logitech mouse, which is a huge jump f", "context": "trying Linux as daily driver for a few months", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Wayland support", "summary": "Wayland support only recently left experimental status, pushing some users to KDE.", "quotes": [{"id": 795739952, "item_id": 49733747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49733747", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal", "excerpt": "Cinnamon was what I used before KDE, I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal, if I had to go back it wouldn't cause me any issues, I only switched for Wayland support. So if you are happy on Cinnamon stay there (and it's Wayland support has caught up a lot). They both do an excellent job of not causing me pain, working the way I want and respecting me as a user, that's what a DE should be, if I", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review"}, {"id": 795358033, "item_id": 49709877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49709877", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon which I really liked", "excerpt": "Still supports a proper taskbar, one per screen with windows from only that screen on that screens taskbar (that's just how I've done it since the 90's but it's a must have because I think in terms of screen relations to where stuff is, it's my mental model) and virtual desktops (Cinnamon and XFCE both do this as do others) and it supports Wayland (which is why I'm not still on Cinnamon which I really liked as it's j", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cpak \u2013 OCI application package format for Linux desktops, servers and devices"}, {"id": 787842273, "item_id": 49240142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49240142", "by": "raxxorraxor", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "excerpt": "For the Windows look and feel, I recommend Mint + Cinnamon. It took me about 15min to not miss anything on Windows and was shocked how I had forgotten how clean a system can be. Mandatory Windows accounts can still be circumvented with a console command for Win 11 installations, but the overall enshitification package just got worse and worse. Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}]}, {"label": "UI freezes", "summary": "The single-threaded UI could lock up, including from official Spices.", "quotes": [{"id": 743332208, "item_id": 46458263, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458263", "by": "Pxtl", "date": "2026-01-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me.", "excerpt": "I've been giving Linux a go as a daily driver for a few months. I tried Cinnamon and while it was pleasantly customizable, the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me. It was too easy to do the wrong thing and lock the UI thread, including several desktop or tray Spices from the official repo. I'm switching to KDE. Seems peppier. Biggest hardware challenge I've faced is my Logitech mouse, which is a huge jump f", "context": "trying Linux as daily driver for a few months", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}]}, {"label": "Crashes", "summary": "One user saw it crash when switching to Bluetooth headphones.", "quotes": [{"id": 743565104, "item_id": 46472819, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46472819", "by": "999900000999", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Cinnamon and Budgie both crashed.", "excerpt": "This is the reason Windows is essentially free. I believe once( this is an urban legend) a manufacturer in a middle income country considered going with Linux to save money and Microsoft flew out a sales rep next day to put a stop to it. Microsoft likes it when you get a \"deal\" and buy a pro key for 10$. Whatever, you'll subscribe to half a dozen Microwave services ideally paying them 30$ to 40$ a month forever. The ", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft kills official way to activate Windows 11/10 without internet"}]}, {"label": "Limited power", "summary": "Not the best choice for those wanting heavy tweaking.", "quotes": [{"id": 784471858, "item_id": 49029491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029491", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements.", "excerpt": "Depending on the machine I use. My laptop is one of the few machines that can run entirely on open source from Firmware, drivers all the way to the top. Thus I run Trisquel. Definitely not for everyone. But on other machines, I just run Mint. It is just a nice and comfortable thing. The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements. Not too ambitious but tha", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "noir_lord", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49733747", "date": "2026-09-16"}, {"by": "chao-", "context": "Linux user for 17 years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46484952", "date": "2026-01-03"}], "tags": ["for Windows switchers", "for Linux Mint users", "for low-end laptops"], "use_cases": ["desktop environment", "daily desktop", "desktop"], "compared": [{"slug": "kde-plasma", "name": "KDE Plasma", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 2}, {"slug": "kde", "name": "KDE", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "gnome", "name": "GNOME", "co": 2, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "mate", "name": "MATE", "co": 1, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "linux-mint", "name": "Linux Mint", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49732036", "title": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49684778", "title": "Cpak \u2013 OCI application package format for Linux desktops, servers and devices", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49232138", "title": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49165907", "title": "The Future of Gnome Boxes", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029345", "title": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48323869", "title": "It's hard to justify buying a Framework 12", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"warn": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 795739952, "item_id": 49733747, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49733747", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal", "excerpt": "Cinnamon was what I used before KDE, I like KDE a great deal but I also liked Cinnamon a great deal, if I had to go back it wouldn't cause me any issues, I only switched for Wayland support. So if you are happy on Cinnamon stay there (and it's Wayland support has caught up a lot). They both do an excellent job of not causing me pain, working the way I want and respecting me as a user, that's what a DE should be, if I", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "macOS 27 Golden Gate \u2013 Review"}, {"id": 795358033, "item_id": 49709877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49709877", "by": "noir_lord", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon which I really liked", "excerpt": "Still supports a proper taskbar, one per screen with windows from only that screen on that screens taskbar (that's just how I've done it since the 90's but it's a must have because I think in terms of screen relations to where stuff is, it's my mental model) and virtual desktops (Cinnamon and XFCE both do this as do others) and it supports Wayland (which is why I'm not still on Cinnamon which I really liked as it's j", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Cpak \u2013 OCI application package format for Linux desktops, servers and devices"}, {"id": 787842273, "item_id": 49240142, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49240142", "by": "raxxorraxor", "date": "2026-08-09", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "excerpt": "For the Windows look and feel, I recommend Mint + Cinnamon. It took me about 15min to not miss anything on Windows and was shocked how I had forgotten how clean a system can be. Mandatory Windows accounts can still be circumvented with a console command for Win 11 installations, but the overall enshitification package just got worse and worse. Cinnamon is X11, but it works very well.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's built-in Weather app wastes more than 1 GB of RAM"}, {"id": 786661505, "item_id": 49166344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49166344", "by": "greatgib", "date": "2026-08-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Currently I use Cinnamon for years and couldn't be more happy.", "excerpt": "They indeed totally lost their way. I think that a relative success was very bad to drive the ego of a few wannabe designers. And since then, it is like selfish driven development and so I think that a lot of users like me moved away. Currently I use Cinnamon for years and couldn't be more happy. The following sentence shows the problem: First, shifting to a Flatpak-first (and only) model. As a solo developer, mainta", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "GNOME", "story": "The Future of Gnome Boxes"}, {"id": 784471858, "item_id": 49029491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49029491", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-07-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements.", "excerpt": "Depending on the machine I use. My laptop is one of the few machines that can run entirely on open source from Firmware, drivers all the way to the top. Thus I run Trisquel. Definitely not for everyone. But on other machines, I just run Mint. It is just a nice and comfortable thing. The base Cinnamon desktop is basically just Windows 7 locked in place with a few quality of life improvements. Not too ambitious but tha", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: What Linux distro do you daily drive?"}, {"id": 773287025, "item_id": 48330439, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48330439", "by": "advael", "date": "2026-05-29", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I put arch with cinnamon on it and it was pretty damn adequate for my needs", "excerpt": "For most of 2024, my main daily driver laptop was a little pink chinese laptop from 2019 I bought on amazon for roughly $200. It was marketed toward communication students. I put arch with cinnamon on it and it was pretty damn adequate for my needs, serviceable for browsing, watching videos, and even some dinky games, and of course fine for development, able to run tiny prototype code locally and ssh into more powerf", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "It's hard to justify buying a Framework 12"}, {"id": 743759233, "item_id": 46484952, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46484952", "by": "chao-", "date": "2026-01-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I am also a caveman who still uses Cinnamon on X11", "excerpt": "I value and appreciate good documentation, and am continually disappointed at how overlooked it is in so many ecosystems. I am also a caveman who still uses Cinnamon on X11, but I use an old system to install and test other DEs once or twice a year, just to keep a sense of what exists out there. Over my 17 years running Linux, I think KDE is the major DE I have run the least, but I have to say: KDE has gotten really ", "context": "Linux user for 17 years", "use_case": "daily desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "KDE onboarding is good now"}, {"id": 743565104, "item_id": 46472819, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46472819", "by": "999900000999", "date": "2026-01-02", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Cinnamon and Budgie both crashed.", "excerpt": "This is the reason Windows is essentially free. I believe once( this is an urban legend) a manufacturer in a middle income country considered going with Linux to save money and Microsoft flew out a sales rep next day to put a stop to it. Microsoft likes it when you get a \"deal\" and buy a pro key for 10$. Whatever, you'll subscribe to half a dozen Microwave services ideally paying them 30$ to 40$ a month forever. The ", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "Microsoft kills official way to activate Windows 11/10 without internet"}, {"id": 743332208, "item_id": 46458263, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458263", "by": "Pxtl", "date": "2026-01-01", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me.", "excerpt": "I've been giving Linux a go as a daily driver for a few months. I tried Cinnamon and while it was pleasantly customizable, the sigle-threadedness of the UI killed it for me. It was too easy to do the wrong thing and lock the UI thread, including several desktop or tray Spices from the official repo. I'm switching to KDE. Seems peppier. Biggest hardware challenge I've faced is my Logitech mouse, which is a huge jump f", "context": "trying Linux as daily driver for a few months", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}, {"id": 735378945, "item_id": 45961184, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45961184", "by": "mmmpetrichor", "date": "2025-11-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Mint 22 is amazing with cinnamon.", "excerpt": "I'm so glad linux is well polished enough now that I can finally use it as a daily desktop. Mint 22 is amazing with cinnamon. Switched from win11 about 2 months ago and have not once booted back to windows. first time I actually find my linux desktop experience is as good or better than windows.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop environment", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 adds AI agent that runs in background with access to personal folders"}]}