A hands-on comparison of Linux Mint and elementary OS as daily drivers for end-users. Elementary OS impresses with its polished installer and accessibility features, but falls short due to a broken full disk encryption setup (blank screen on boot requiring manual TTY interaction), a sparse app store, and overly basic applications. Linux Mint earns a stronger recommendation for its comprehensive feature set, reliable software management, and pleasant Cinnamon desktop, though it draws criticism for advertising proprietary services like Netflix in the installer, using ecryptfs instead of LUKS for encryption, and lacking organizational transparency. Linux Mint is recommended for general users going forward, with elementary OS showing promise if it continues to improve.
Sort: