Hi there, I'm new to Linux, although I've experimented with Ubuntu 14.04 and didn't like it. I have replaced the win 7 system on my Toshiba L500D laptop with Mint 17 Qiana Cinnamon 64 bit, and on the whole, am delighted with it. Just wish more of my windows programs would work better through wine, but I guess that will improve in time.
I've read about the KDE edition of Qiana, and would like to know what KDE is, and what is the difference is between the two, and if it is worth going to the trouble of upgrading to KDE. I'm sold on the concept of open source.

It's one of a number of desktop environments available for Linux. Explained in the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KDE

Cinnamon is similar to gnome 2 desktop & you may find that everything is installed by default.

You may find this an interesting guide to desktops:
http://www.renewablepcs.com/about-li...-gnome-or-xfce

As for Wine, that can be an endless saga. I have just one custom program that needs Windows, and it works properly less than half the versions of Wine that have been produced over the years. Luckily, many commercial Windows programs can be replaced with Linux equivalents:
http://linuxappfinder.com/alternatives

Hi guys, thanks for replying to my questions so promptly. The links you provided were very helpful, and I may well try out KDE after I've gotten more familiar with Cinnamon.