Since the MATE desktop forked away from the abanndoned GNOME 2 project many users have reported problems getting the Compiz compositing manager to work properly with the MATE desktop environment. The Linux Mint distribution plans to fix this issue in their upcoming 17.1 release.
The MATE edition [of Linux Mint 17.1] sports out of the box support for the Compiz window-manager (which comes pre-installed, pre-configured and which you can switch to with a click of a button).
There are also plans to bring the latest version of the Cinnamon desktop to Linux Mint’s Debian Edition. The next release of Mint’s Debian Edition will be based on Debian’s upcoming stable release, code name “Jessie”. Details on developments happening across all editions of Linux Mint can be found in the project’s latest blog post.
I have always found Linux Mint MATE to be an excellent distribution. Compiz is an amazing Window manager. The combination of the two is amazing in my book.
Is thing great news? Spilsbury is no longer actively working on compiz, it won’t be ported to Wayland and Ubuntu is currently supporting because it needs to but won’t when mir comes.
I liked cube but this looks like the past to me.
If you do not mind installing kdelibs, kwin is a modern composited window manager that works perfectly fine for MATE that will have support for wayland and has smoother and (in my personal view) better effects.
Thank goodness for Mint, giving users what they want to use instead of trying to force new concepts on them. I don’t even use the Mint distro, but I sure do use Cinnamon and Mate, which are for me the only two usable desktop environments in existence.
If cinnamon keeps being developed I might aim my 3d modeller at it rather than GTK3. Frankly I want to move to GNUstep but I might stick with Cinnamon if it’s easier.
Cinnamon is not a toolkit. It’s a desktop environment and it uses GTK3 according to wikipedia.
That means if you aim your 3d modeller at GTK3, it will fit right into Cinnamon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinnamon_%28software%29
Edited 2014-11-17 10:34 UTC
I am running Linux Mint 17.1 RC right now. I am very much impressed by Cinnamon 2.4, and have been following its development for a while. It is really solid and veyr light in my use. Once LMDE comes out with Cinnamon 2.4, that is when I will be installed it over Linux Mint 17.1.
P.S. sorry for the lame comment title!
Mate with Compiz? Fine as long as it’s turned off by default…. many use Mate on older computers.