Hi I am about to try Mint again. I plan to start with Mint 17.1 but I wonder if this is the best place to start. Shoud I go for the latest which is I think 18? If I did start with 17.1 is it easy to upgrade to 18.
I was so frustrated when my Win7 crashed. I had such a hard time reinstalling it and getting it rgistered. Some woman in India gave me a whole string of digits while taking control of my computer. It was nerve wracking and so unecessary. I hope with Linux I get an easy ride.

Hi there, Pascal, and welcome to LQ.

I would advise you to start with the current version, Mint 18.3 (https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php).

Do note that Mint 19 will be out within the next few weeks, but you will be able to upgrade from 18.3 to 19 when the time comes.

Let us know if you have any problems or questions regarding the installation.

Thanks. Which version is best? Mate or cinnamon?

Cinnamon has more features and more development work goes into it, but it uses more resources, so if you have an older computer then Xfce or MATE would be more suitable.

Personally I use MATE, just because I like the way it looks, but I highly recommend that you download the ISOs for Cinnamon, MATE and Xfce (not KDE since support for it will end with Mint 19), and try all of these. You don't need to install them on your computer, just run them live off the boot media to see what you think of them.

I would be interested to see which you prefer!

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Geez dude, ya haven't even been to the LinuxMint website.

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I prefer MATE to Cinnamon. You install and use both, switch between them, and then stick with the one you prefer.

^
I prefer CINNAMON to mate...

Idem !

Cinnamon is some awesome software... IF you have a decently powerful pc. However Xfce wins easily on an older machine(like mine )

Typical Windows! You'll be relieved to know that in Linux, you almost never need to reinstall your system except occasionally for new releases of the distro. Even then, complete upgrades can usually be done with your package manager; the release notes will tell you if a new install is required. If your system gets into a mess, it is usually possible to fix it without reinstalling. And of course you don't have to register with anyone, though it will please the community if you add yourself to the linux counter

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Not only do you not have to reinstall, you hardly ever have to reboot. I reboot about once a month. Windows can't even go for one day without crashing!

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,

Whoa.. hope you didn't pay a bunch of $$ , got personal info stolen AND made your machine a bot!

That sounds quite likely to me...

I think that the reason those fake tech support telephone spammers are so successful is because even in legit American companies, its hard to find someone who's actually an American or at least SPEAKS like one.

Recently a friend of mine, called tec support for his antivirus software. I was amazed at how extremely similar this set up was to the various scammers we've played along with( before causing them problems )

And yet this fellow from who knows where, took control of his computer for a long time. Sorry but I couldn't do that on my machine, what about a dishonest employee? I mean they could raise havoc and most people wouldn't even notice.

Bottom line, I've never had a virus or malware on my computer, partly because I rarely boot to Windows and even if I do its never been connected to the net(its a dev machine)

For those who are interested. I installed Zorin 9.1 straight onto my SSD by first disconnecting my internal HDD (Optiplex780). Its working fine. The Mint Sylvia was just acting like a delinquent kid and a selfish one at that. I have yet to get my new "computer" ie my SSD to work on my laptop. It loads ok but will not log onto the house WiFi. Any one got any ideas or should I start a new thread?
Thanks
P