Cinnamon 3.8 Desktop Released With Performance Improvements, Various Modifications

[Ray54]

I have 6 PCs running linux Mint 18.3 and don't normally have any Cinnamon crashes, except when I have a compatibility problem with my old NVidia cards and their new drivers. On each PC, I have linux mint mounted on an SSD, and this may account for never having any speed problems. I have been playing around with Ubuntu 18.04 as a second OS on one of my machines, and it feels slightly unfinished and temperamental, particularly when working with my home Ubuntu server over a CIFS network. However, Ubuntu 18.04 is of course still very new. I hope that the new Mint 19 version that will be based on Ubuntu 18.04 will not have the same issues, particularly not recognizing that an executable shell script on my server is to be trusted (I mount it with the exec parameter). I have over 450 such scripts on my server - one for each game in my games collection.

[theriddick]

Stability and memory consumption (weight) is what's needed to be worked on for cinnamon, then I'll consider switching to it.

I love KDE but until they completely overhaul Kwin to be more functional with fullscreen apps and nvidia cards, I aren't gonna use it, staying with MATE atm, which at the very least works decently. (does have a issue with monitor power off resetting desktop bg at times)

[Lanz]

I've been using KDE on Arch, and I really can't imagine anything better.

[Royi]

Stability and memory consumption (weight) is what's needed to be worked on for cinnamon, then I'll consider switching to it.

Totally agree on the concept.
The most important feature of DE is being lean on resources.
I hope Cinnamon will get better on that (Yet one must say it is quite good on that to begin with).

[Vistaus]

Just need to figure out how to both have the Windows key (yes that is the proper name of it) [...]

Actually, on Linux it's called the Super key.

[SpyroRyder]

It rarely crashes for me using AMDGPU drivers on Arch (and also Gentoo though I blew that install away a couple months ago)... but it does like to idle with 20-30% use of one of the cores of my i5 4570S for zero apparent reason. Finally switched to XFCE. Don't like it as much visually but I got it to a point where it's good enough. Just need to figure out how to both have the Windows key (yes that is the proper name of it) work to open the whisker menu but also work with shortcuts like win+E. Right now I had to make a stupid script to start Krusader and then close whisker menu, because pressing win-E triggers both keyboard shortcuts since XFCE seems to be using the KeyDown event to process keyboard shortcuts (which, frankly, is really incredibly stupid of them). Don't feel like I should ever have to work around such a stupid problem and I'm not happy that the Windows key works so poorly on Linux still. One of the big advantages of the Gnome-based distros is that the Windows key functions as a Windows key.

Microsoft got that key added to keyboards, and that set the expectation of what the key should do. I don't care if KDE or XFCE developers think otherwise because they are wrong.

But at least they don't waste 20-30% of a CPU core for no damn reason.

With XFCE, I almost never see its processes using over 5%, and it idles with less CPU usage than that, even. I'm not sure I've ever seen an XFCE process go up to 30% even briefly (it probably does happen sometimes, but yes, briefly).

Also, when Cinnamon does crash on me (again, not actually very frequent), it usually loads back up fine and doesn't require a reboot or anything. Still annoys me but could be worse.

When people press the Windows key they expect to be able to launch programs. By tradition thatis via a menu but in the last few years that pattern has been generally been replaced by search. That pattern works the exact same in Gnome as it does in Windows. Additionally, its not like program launching is so vastly different that assumptions cant be made about usage, especiallyif youve used a phone in the last 5 years.

[stiiixy]

Actually, on Linux it's called the Super key.

Yes, but he's making the point that he doesn't care what Linux users call it, that MS paid KB manufacturers to have it added, so as far as he is concerned, it is called the Windows key. Credit where credit is due.

[Holograph]

When people press the Windows key they expect to be able to launch programs. By tradition thatis via a menu but in the last few years that pattern has been generally been replaced by search. That pattern works the exact same in Gnome as it does in Windows. Additionally, its not like program launching is so vastly different that assumptions cant be made about usage, especiallyif youve used a phone in the last 5 years.

The pattern has been replaced so that there is a common UI between devices that have zero need to share a common UI. I care far more for efficiency. I can use any UI you throw at me (excluding ones you design specifically to try and prove that statement wrong). Doesn't mean that it's an efficient way to do things. Besides, I actually prefer to be able to see the active application(s) while I launch more. I call it multitasking; you can call it ADD if you want. In any case I don't use Windows 10 or 8; I use 7 at work and I will be able to stay on that for a while. I do have to use Server 2012 and 2016 and do find the application launching to be considerably slower than any previous Windows method, even Windows 3.x (first version I used was 3.0 so I don't know about prior versions). I actually think Gnome does a better job in searching for an application - Windows seems to be extremely picky about this (sometimes you type the first 2 letters of an application and you see it in the list but you haven't stopped typing but then you type the 3rd letter and it then says no results). But it's still not efficient in Gnome. I'd have less of an issue with it in Windows if the searching actually worked well, but it would still be an inefficient method.

I use a phone a lot. And I use a phone without a mouse or a keyboard. Why would I want a computer to work the same way as that? The suggestion is mind-boggling to me.

[Vistaus]

Yes, but he's making the point that he doesn't care what Linux users call it, that MS paid KB manufacturers to have it added, so as far as he is concerned, it is called the Windows key. Credit where credit is due.

Yeah, because ALL laptops have a Windows key? System76 laptops don't. Also, I'm typing this from my Dell Chromebook 13 running Solus Linux, I see no Win key. The Search key acts as the Super key. This goes for all Chromebooks and Chromebooks are popular, you know.

[stiiixy]

Yeah, because ALL laptops have a Windows key? System76 laptops don't. Also, I'm typing this from my Dell Chromebook 13 running Solus Linux, I see no Win key. The Search key acts as the Super key. This goes for all Chromebooks and Chromebooks are popular, you know.

You're missing the point. The key with the MS Windows logo on a keyboard is called 'Windows' key.

You dont even have the key, no matter what it's called, so what are you harping on about?

My reponse was in response to the gentleman talking about it being called the Windows key, not a 'Super' key. He calls it that instead of Super based on the premise MS paid manufacturer's to have that key added to the standard layout (US was 104 at the time?).

It was a good idea (really a knock-off of Apple...), and much like MS hardware at the time, quite useful.