Linux Mint 12 LXDE �Lisa’ review with screenshots

Linux Mint 12 LXDE codenamed �Lisa’ is a LXDE version of famous out-of-the-box Linux Mint operating system. This version is released four days ago. Previously, it was build and supported by Linux Mint community but from some months, it has been added as official release. Linux Mint 12 LXDE features upstream components like Ubuntu 11.10, Linux 3.0, LXDE 0.5.0, etc.

New features

Linux Mint 12 LXDE features a fast and lightweight LXDE environment. Some of the new features in Linux Mint 12 LXDE are:

  • Use of Hybrid ISOs instead of simple ISOs enables you to make a boot-able pen drive simply using dd command (with no persistence storage). But you can use UNetbootin to create pen drives with persistent storage.
  • DuckDuckGo is the new search engine shipped with Firefox in Linux Mint 12 LXDE. Linux Mint team’s new business model state to include only search engines that share search revenue with Linux Mint team. But, you can easily add other search engines via Firefox in Linux Mint 12 LXDE.

Boot-up & Installation

I used Linux Mint ISO named �linuxmint-12-lxde-cd-32bit.iso’ to install it on pen drive using UNetbootin. Then I booted-up the pen drive to run Linux Mint 12 LXDE. Linux has been very fast for sometime and Linux Mint 12 LXDE booted in around 38 seconds . I was presented with the Linux Mint 12 wallpaper in 32 seconds and desktop was completely loaded in 38 seconds. That’s good. I think that Linux Mint 12 LXDE installed on hard disk will take around 25-30 seconds to show desktop if it took 38 seconds on pen drive.

You can start installation of Linux Mint 12 LXDE on your hard disk using the installer �Install Linux Mint’ present on your desktop. Follow the detailed steps as stated that first choose Language; then choose partition to install Linux Mint 12 LXDE; then choose other settings like time zone, user account, etc. After the files are copied on your hard disk, you’ll be able to boot Linux Mint 12 LXDE from your hard disk. Installing an operating system on hard disk has many advantages like faster boot, faster response time and better stability.

Desktop & Artwork

Linux Mint 12 LXDE desktop is simple and has one panel at bottom. Linux Mint has a nice collection of wallpapers and themes . You can open �OpenBox Configuration Manager’ from Mint menu -> Preferences. OpenBox Configuration Manager allows you to change various artwork settings like Themes, Appearance, Windows, Desktops, Dock, etc. There are around more than 100 themes in Linux Mint 12 LXDE. You should use no wallpaper and a light-weight theme for faster operating speed of Linux Mint. Also, you can use �Customize Look & Feel’ program to set various options like widget style, color schemes, icon themes, mouse cursors, window borders, fonts and some other GUI and sound options.

Software & Usability

Linux Mint 12 LXDE ships with some of the latest packages like Linux 3.0 and LXDE 0.5.0. It is built on Ubuntu 11.10, which means it has latest software and provides max. stability. I found Linux Mint 12 LXDE to be more stable than its GNOME and KDE editions . Linux Mint LXDE uses PCmanFM as its file manager. Its light-weight and provide fast file browsing environment. Though PCmanFM is not as much featured as Nautilus but its fast than Nautilus.

Linux Mint 12 LXDE has Abiword 2.8.6 as its word processor which opens on the click. It has Leafpad 0.8.17 as text editor, Gnumeric 1.10.17 as spreadsheet program, Exaile 0.3.2.2 as audio player, VLC Media player 1.1.12 as video player, Xfburn 0.4.3 as CD/DVD burner, Gcalculator 1.3.4 as calculator, ImageWriter to write images like ISO, Xarchiver 0.5.2 as archiver (for handling zip, rar, gz files), Pidgin 2.10.0 as chat client, Firefox 7.0.1 is browser, GIMP 2.6.11 as photo editor, Document Viewer 3.2.0 for opening PDFs,  etc. It also has Dropbox desktop client pre-installed. Also, Sun Java 6 and flash is installed to give your out-of-the-box support for web browsing.

Linux M int 12 LXDE has a nice collection of programs and it makes our experience as wonderful upon using it. Linux Mint 12 LXDE uses only 200 MB when it shows desktop at start . Check out the screenshot to confirm it. It uses around 260MB when playing a video and writing this review in Leafpad. It is easy and fully equipped operating system, though I missed Libre Office or Open Office suites as it would’ve been completed this distro for software category.

Security & Management

Linux Mint 12 LXDE edition is quite fast and responsive when it comes to application launch time, boot process, operating system response speed, etc. I think Linux Mint 12 LXDE is removed of various bugs and stability issues that Linux Mint 12 GNOME and KDE versions were filled with. Linux Mint 12 is stable enough that you can use it as your regular desktop operating system.

It has various management packages pre-installed to manage your computer and operating system like Monitor settings, LxKeymap, Software manager, Synaptic Package manager, etc. You can use Desktop Session settings to manage startup applications; Power Manager to set power options; Screenlock to lock your screen. I like Xfce Power Manager as it is much better than Power management software present in Linux Mint 12 GNOME.

Overall, I’m quite impresses by Linux Mint 12 LXDE edition. It is fast, responsive and stable. It has a good collection of apps and start apps at a click . I should have personally used it as my regular operating system if I had to change my operating system at present. But, I’ll be surely using it someday as my OS on my laptop.

Pros: Fast and responsive operating system, Small in size – about 900MB ISO file

Cons: Missing Office suite, LXDE is no better in term of graphics and glossy looks

Suggestion: You must try it if you like your computer to open an application just as you click it.

Please don’t hesitate to tell us how was your experience with Linux Mint 12 LXDE. Please comment below to share your experience or ask a question.

Screenshots