A little different to what you are used to.
Can be compared to the Fluxbox edition, which is more lightweight, still.
a good all round compromise between speed and features.

even though most packages are available, anyway.

Mint seems the best distro available for beginners or for those who just want something that works without tweaking. The installer is fast and simple and a 50p PDF beginners' guide is available.

Unlike Ubuntu, all codecs are pre-installed and the unreliable Totem is replaced by Gnome-Mplayer. Consequently it played mp3, flv, mp4, wmv, mpg, mov files faultlessly without any intervention being required.

Xfce offers a good desktop experience for those who want something lighter than Gnome or KDE but less bare than a simple window manager.

I started this relationship with Linux in 2006. Installed Ubuntu and installed and re-installed each Ubuntu release,working for hours to get AND KEEP dual screens working. But the folks at Ubuntu seem to be some sort of club that makes you feel like trying to borrow money with bad credit. If you had good credit, you wouldn't need to borrow money, right? So you go to the bank and they treat you like you less than nice, because you don't deserve to be treated nice cause you have bad credit. Even though the very bank you have to go to, is often the reason you have bad credit in the first place.
But Mint works right after you install it, dual screens and all. So you actually are using your computer as a computer instead of a giant puzzle. See I wanted a OS that was reliable to use, not become another headache like windoz is. And the people at Mint actually speak my native language, which is another big plus for getting started and actually using my computer for what I want to study. See, Mint prides itself on releasing a finished work, not a work in progress. I don't know why anyone who has the magic knowledge of bits and bytes and wants to spend there days tracking down the magic chants of code would want Linux. Because the whole idea of Linux is to be free and open and work without being blackmailed by an OS that can be highjacked by a Virus Terrorist.
Most people us their computers for email and internet research. And to type up something now and then. I know I didn't buy a computer to have it act like a spoiled child that only works when it wants to, after you give it more money, or spend long hours doing research on ANOTHER computer that works, to figure out why your new one doesn't.
So to make a short story even longer...MINT good for the other 80% of the population that wants to get work done and just shut the darn thing off and have it start up then next time you use it, without a big sign that says, because it wasn't shut down correctly, you now owe it two hours of tweak time.