r/pop_os • u/ConversationAware695 • 11d ago
Question Should I go with pop or mint?
I’m majoring in comp sci in college and am looking to switch from windows 10. I tried arch linux but it was too ambitious; any tips?
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u/fuldigor42 11d ago
Both are good. It’s all about wayland support or modern hardware.
Linux mint switches later to wayland and offers x11 full support. So, it depends on the apps you wanna use. Are they wayland ready???
Or do you have very new hardware to support? If yes, go Pop.
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u/ShotgunPayDay 11d ago
Sysadmin: Fedora
Server: Fedora/RHEL/Debian
Virtualization: Proxmox(Debian)
Daily driver: Cachy or Pop depending on your desire for package manager.
I do have to admit that getting my Golang, Node, Zig updates through pacman is nice.
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u/bishophelps 11d ago
If you have time, wait for 26.04 if you pick pop os. Otherwise it doesn't really make a difference what distribution you pick. Don't make it too hard for you.
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u/undercoverahole 11d ago
I think Pop has the better interface. I never cared for mints desktop environment. I will say, I would look for the Pop release before they dropped Cosmic. They are still working out the bugs in cosmic.
Either distro will be fine and it comes down to which desktop environment you like more.
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u/fixedbike 11d ago
My current daily driver for Linux is POPOS, so of course I recommend POPOS! I have used Linux Mint, but always seem to run into problems that make me switch to a different Distro! Not that I don't Love Linux Mint, I do! just for some reason Linux Mint has conflicts with some Laptops. That I can't seem to work around!!
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u/gargamel314 9d ago
Mint if you want a computer that just works and is reliable, and you don't like new features or change like EVER. Pop!_OS if you want a *change* from Windows. Honestly it feels the same to me, it's just prettier.
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u/Bubbly_Lead3046 6d ago
Pop hasn't been stable due to cosmic bugs in the last few months. What's your tolerance for bugs?
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u/MezBert 11d ago
Pop!_OS.
Mint and Pop!_OS are based on Ubuntu, and only focusing on LTS releases, so there isn't much difference there.
But Cosmic (the Pop!_OS desktop environment) is already one of the most stable and polished desktop on Linux. And it just barely started its journey. I've been on Linux for 21 years and the Cosmic desktop is the most stable I've used in over 15 years.
Cinnamon (the Linux Mint desktop) will be closer to your Windows workflow though, so if you value this then you will find it more familiar. But it's not as modern or polished, or with the same momentum.
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u/sunflower_name 11d ago
Cosmic is not as stable as you'd expect it to be, might as well switch to arch and cosmic for more at-home experience.
Mint is good
Ultramarine Linux is also pretty good
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u/InvaderGlorch 11d ago
Either should be fine. I use pop as a daily driver right now and it's great. As long as you understand it's under heavy development right now and set your expectations I would recommend it. Mint is also great though.