I'm just happy you are all here!
Nuff said

I am to. But I posted to the wrong place, Sorry Boo, Deleting my previous post in this thread.

Thanks!
I can't believe there wasn't a guide for this years ago...
I never updated my Nvidia drivers because it usually meant killing X server, using the shell and breaking something. Now its super easy.

Exactly, I gave up doing manual driver installation after messing up the install and not being able to launch x server. So instead I kept waiting for Mint to provide a newer driver and they never did until the next Mint release

Drivers!...sigh...
Drivers were the whole reason behind my first trying Mint
(Thank you CC where ever you are!)

To be honest, I'm surprised it took the Linux community so long to implement "Driver Manager" or something like it.

In any case let me add my thanks Boo! Your of service to your community!

I love Cinnamon as well. It truly helped me migrate from Windows without a lot of headache.
I broke my system as well trying to install drivers. Won't be doing that again. I definitely learn something when I break things.

I think the main reason that Mint and at lest to some extent Ubuntu "Work" for us is they they had a clearly defined goal.
Create a an OS for the average home and small business user. Make it easy to understand and easy to use.

"The whole world loves the simple.
The whole world loves the easy."
Lao Tsu

And let's face it...The people behind Mint really are exceptional.
I mean these cats are on time and they always bring "it" with them when they come!

There have definitely been releases that were some-what lacking in breathtaking advancements.

BUT! They don't let that serve as an excuse to mess up everything they achieved in the prior release!

It seems to me that, as a rule, if Mint can't improve it,...they leave it alone. For that I thank them every time I wake up my box....and she ALWAYS wakes up!! LOL

I also like that they really do seem to like us! ":O}

If it isn't done "Your" way... why go there? ":O}

I began with Open SuSE on a desktop to host a gaming server. Games like The Ship, Half-Life Deathmatch and Counter-Strike: Source. It worked fine. Later I installed Fedora on a "make-shift" server to host games and my data. Remember I do all of this offline LAN.
Fedora became my first real experience with Linux. Learning how to backup files, secure Linux and enable SMB. All of that stuff... When Daniel~ started using Linux Mint about 5 years ago, I checked it out, but wasn't ready to actually play games in Linux. But as he kept posting questions and trying games in Wine... I had to give it another try.
I decided that I would give Mint a "true" chance at a gaming Desktop and installed it on my newest computer on a spare partition. I decided I would try to use it every day to get better at Linux and gaming. Next thing I know... I'm gaming on it every day, testing games in PlayOnLinux and posting how-to guides. 4 years later here I am.
Mint is installed on 3 computers at home, 1 computer at work, Ubuntu on my Chromebook, Ubuntu on my HUGE laptop and Fedora on my Server.

Yeah, I've used Fedora intermittently for almost 10 years. But that was just for hosting games. I barely used it except when I hosted LAN Parties and needed to backup some files.

I like Ubuntu, but Mint Cinnamon desktop is so much easier to use. Creating shortcuts, system settings, panel settings, launchers, sharing, everything is just easier for me. I feel that Ubuntu and Newer Fedora are trying to hide some of the administrative tasks and they are hard to find.

Before Mint, there was Fedora. Fedora seemed like the best of a lot of bad deals when it came to Linux desktops, say seven to ten years back.

Fedora was 1/2 of my plan to escape the grasp of MS.
The other half was the first time purchase of my PS3...
Because nobody back then really played games in Linux so much as played at getting games to run at all!
(Yes, the skillful and the experienced could and did run a few popular games, a very few.)
Most of us spent our time trying to install drivers...

It only took me a dozen very experienced and talented mentors: almost occupying an entire forums topic on it's own to install or update my own drivers...

To be fair, the procedure for installing drivers seemed to change just about as often as my drivers!
( Am I the only one to think that!?) ":O}

Mint change everything for me! I can Do Mint almost all by myself!

There of course still tons I don't know, but in Mint, I don't NEED to know" it" !

If I want " it," I'll have to learn something...ask someone... But that's usually apart from my OS.
My OS takes care of the rest with very little help from anyone!
What a relief not to have to depend on others to get basic functions done!


Mint made me independent in Linux, trust me, that's an amazing achievement! ":O}

SuSE was pretty good. That was the first distro I ever used. It has a pretty simple user interface and the YAST tool for installing updates. I only scraped the surface with SuSE because I didn't really know what to do with it. I couldn't use it on a daily basis.
I think someone recommended Fedora to me and I tried it out, then stuck with it. Still only barely scratched-the-surface of Linux, but learned a few commands, sharing files, network settings and even backups.
The only reason I went with Mint instead of Ubuntu was because of Dan~
He needed help and I was still using Fedora. So tried Mint and stuck-with-it-for-good.
Now I can run anything I was previously running in Windows.

Sorry I couldn't help you at AOA, I didn't even join on until 2004.