Mum tries out Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition 14 (2012)

She's back again with another distro of her favorite kernel so far: Linux. Last time she tried Ubuntu (most popular version of Linux) but this time she has decided to try Linux Mint Cinnamon Edition 14 as requested by a viewer of her previous videos. Does she like it? Watch and find out ;) (note I correct a few myths about Linux I made in the Ubuntu video in this video)

Tasks Given:
- What time is it?
- Write, save and open a text document
- Customize the way your computer looks
- Open the documents folder
- Open a PDF file
- Open a Doc (Microsoft Word) file
- Download and install google sketch up (Wine Preinstalled)
- Turn off your computer

The mother in this video only ever uses Windows XP running with the classic win95 theme. Would you like to see her try out other operating systems such as windows longhorn or non-microsoft operating systems through history? Then give your suggestions in the comments section.

Give this video lots of likes, views, favorites and comments if you want my mum to try out other operating systems. I am open to any operating system suggestions you give especially if these videos go semi-viral (over 100,000 views). This channel is dedicated to me "introducing" people (mum, dad, me) to different operating systems they have never used before and leaving them to suffer in confusion struggling to do anything in an unknown computer environment... or see if these other operating systems are better than Microsoft Windows.

[OsFirstTimer]

She has been married to my Dad for 20 years now and they really are still in love. She went to a strict girls school and had never had a boyfriend prior to her school formal, so at 17 years old she asked her best friend's brother if he would go with her to her formal (she had admired him since she was 11 and he was 13, but she was too shy to say anything before), he said yes and they fell in love at the formal, got engaged 2 months later, then 2 years later got married at age 19(Mum) and 21(Dad)

[fratermus]

This kind of user testing is absolutely critical. Thank your mom for participating.

[snerglaff]

I like how she continually remarks how the tooltips appear in Mint, even though they are in many other OS. I think she noticed because they appear much faster than in Windows.

[ArizonaJewell]

As another commenter said, this type of user testing is absolutely critical. Fantastic idea having her try Mint, super good ides to gauge user friendliness and usability. My mom is pretty tech illiterate and I’m an information technology major. I write python programs in my spare time, and I have my mom try them out when I’ve got them working. It’s really helpful to see how she interacts with the interface, and if her accidentally entering the wrong data will cause a crash.

[deadbeatguitarist]

Aww thats nice. Your mom is a good sport. You both have done a good job here. I think it would be helpful for the Linux Mint team to see this, It would give a sense of how a non linux user approaches the cinnamon desktop. Also - the inconsistancy in the Settings area where there weren't 'tooltip popups' is probably something that should be addressed since the user is expecting tooltips because they get them everywhere else. Thanks for the good content.

[OsFirstTimer]

She feels so good about the fame that she keep making more videos. Everyday we play "guess the amount of subscribers". She can't believe more that 3, 000 people have subscribed to her.

[OsFirstTimer]

Lets just say when I made this video she was expecting 20-100 views, not 25, 000 for a single video!

[OsFirstTimer]

Remember these are not tutorial videos for using the operating system. I don't intend to teach anything in these videos. They are made for the purpose of displaying the reaction of a user to an unfamiliar operating system... My name for those people... An OS first timer ;)

P.S I am a childcare worker myself, not a tech expert. I simply download the operating system, spend 5 minutes working out how to use it myself, spend 5 minutes reading a wiki article about it then get my mum to try it.

[OsFirstTimer]

Thankyou everyone, after 100 comments across my videos telling me how to say ubuntu I have learned how to pronounce it. Great job!

[VisorView]

I had OpenSuse, then switched to Win8 preview as it was free. I found Opensuse (it was 11. something) very quirky, and not at all easy to use. I missed the W8 cheap update, so went searching for a Linux install. Thanks to you and your adorable mum, I took the Mint 14 route, ISO onto a stick, and then formatted and installed in one swoop. Went like a dream and absolutely everything works perfectly. Mint is just like Windows, no learning curve, and is a doddle to get used to.

[OsFirstTimer]

It's not a virtual OS. Linux mint cinnamon edition was downloaded off the official website as an ios file. I used universal USB installer to put it on my 32 gig USB which I plugged into the computer on boot. The computer booted from my USB rather than my hard drive causing linux mint to run on my computer without emulation.

[OsFirstTimer]

Yes. She doesn't like change. If it was up to her computer interfaces would remain the same forever and only speed would change as technology advances.

[michaelwillenburg]

What she used wasn't "Google" Sketchup. It was a different companies program.

[OsFirstTimer]

Fedora 17 has already been tried, check out our channel for the video ;)

[OsFirstTimer]

Sigh... I've already explained this a few times. I downloaded the iso from the website. It was definitely linux mint 14 but the grub menu was not updated so it was displaying mint 13. I can however assure you that this is 14 ;)

[OsFirstTimer]

Glad you like them. Not sure what's wrong with this one but you're the second person to mention its not working. I tried it just then though and others are watching it too so I can't fix something when I don't know what's wrong with it...

[johng.]

Great video!  I love the way you had mum go through the steps.  I'm new to Linux and really learned a few things...  Thanks!

[pedrocamposnl]

What a clever idea to involve your mother to show to the public how simple and easy to use Linux is..I have been recommending your videos to many people that want to learn or use Linux for the first time..thank you !

[OsFirstTimer]

Actually I usually get 1.3 megabytes per second with download speeds however with linux based operating systems it's 1.4. I wonder if its something to do with the file system or the way it's calculating the amount of data because I doubt linux based systems are actually increasing the speed of my downloads.

[surgtech]

Love your mom, she is so nice to be your experimental subject for this. Great concept of showing a first time user too, shows how easy Linux really is once even a novice gets in to it a little bit. Linux Mint FTW!!