Linux Cinnamon vs. Linux MATE

Linux Mint supports several well-designed desktop environments, including Cinnamon and MATE. We looked at both to help you choose the best Linux desktop for your needs.

Overall Findings

MATE is a continuation of the discontinued version 2.x of the GNOME desktop. It retains the conventional desktop schema of a bottom panel with a simple application menu and list of running apps, as well as a home screen where files may be stored. MATE is incredibly customizable.

Cinnamon is an alternate-track fork of the Gnome 3.x project and has a standard desktop appearance. It incorporates advanced menu options, a cleaner minimal interface, and a curated selection of extensions for the status bar and other home screen elements. It aims to provide Linux users a modern desktop that strikes a balance between functionality and elegance.

Aesthetics: Cinnamon Wins With Consistency

Cinnamon is all about looking sleek and consistent while allowing users to choose the thematic inflection they want. Themes, along with other graphical elements such as desklet widgets and applet widgets for the status bar, install from the Cinnamon Themes menu. An online extension store customizes Cinnamon while keeping the panel from getting out of control and cluttered.

Speed: MATE Stays Lean

Overall, MATE is leaner and less hardware-intensive than Cinnamon, which makes it generally faster. The less-flashy look of MATE means it doesn't have to devote as much memory and processing to visual effects, making everything run smoothly. The default utility set for MATE also swaps out a few Cinnamon utilities for smaller, simpler alternatives that cut down on loading lag time for app startup.

Customization: MATE Supports Different Engines

While Cinnamon places the customization menus front and center, it presents a restrictive array of choices. MATE lets you make whatever tweaks you can imagine. MATE lets you switch things up more piecemeal. Instead of applying a single theme to all UI elements the way Cinnamon encourages users to do, MATE lets you go in different directions for the look of menus, window bars, and icons. For example, it's straightforward to configure the MATE panel differently from the rest of the menu UI, whereas Cinnamon discourages this.

You can also customize the window manager, the program at the heart of a desktop environment that dictates how windows are drawn and positioned, in MATE more than in Cinnamon. Cinnamon only provides one option, while MATE supports several window managers and more than one compositor. One combined window manager-compositor that stands out is Compiz, which lets you delve deep into the graphical effects for moving windows, switching workspaces, and related features.

Stability: MATE Is Built on a Solid Foundation

With simple applications, a no-frills interface, and tried-and-true GTK+ 2 libraries, MATE is rock-solid. By not trying to do too much, and doing everything well, MATE rarely crashes. Things work, and if you want them to look nicer and still work, you can do that too.

Usability: Cinnamon Is Locked and Loaded

The unified look and full-featured utilities of Cinnamon make it ideal for a modern computing experience. Every customization portal has a consistent app-store-like interface, whether it's an app store or a theming menu, that is common on modern desktop and laptop computers. Every utility, such as the image or document viewer, is rich, full-featured, and doesn't cut down on menu options for the sake of efficient processing, as MATE sometimes does.

Utilities: Depends on How Fancy You Want Apps

Utilities access and manipulate files of all types, administer the system, and make the desktop useful. If you're looking for simple utilities that never fail, MATE is the best bet. If you want a modern, unabridged set of features and a sleek finish, check out Cinnamon.

Final Verdict

Cinnamon has a modern design that doesn't require much component-level tweaking. It has higher resource overheads but a snazzier visual appeal. MATE is robust, but not as polished. Fine-tuning requires some time and knowledge of how things work under-the-hood, but it is highly customizable.

MATE offers a well-tested, highly configurable interface that's still rocking the Windows XP motifs. Cinnamon aims to be modern, and in so doing, it delivers more polish with less efficiency and customization.