linux mint🌶️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

I got my parents to switch to Linux Mint for some applications. Here's how you can too. Hi mom.

Pre-requisites

Download Linux Mint .iso file from their website.

I clicked on "Download" under the Cinnamon Edition. It's a more modern GUI than Xfce and MATE, which probably appeals to more people as a result.

Download Balena Etcher, we'll need it for writing the .iso file to a USB flash drive. Oh yeah, you need a USB flash drive if you're installing to physical hardware.

Just click "Download Etcher" and follow the installation instructions. I believe in you to do it. On Windows, the program installs as balenaEtcher

Then we simply "Flash from File" and select linuxmint-yadda-yadda-64bit.iso, and "Select target", which is the USB drive we needed.

Then click "Flash!" and wait patiently. There may be a prompt for admin privileges for writing data directly to the USB drive.

Linux Mint

Now onto installing Linux Mint using the newly flashed USB drive!

Flashed meaning, we overwrote the flash drive in the rawest manner possible. Etcher stamps the raw ISO image directly onto the drive — partition table and all — replacing whatever was there before.

If this means nothing to you, then great! The software is doing its job by abstracting the hard parts from us, shielding our precious minds from any potential infohazards.

Booting from USB

Plug the USB drive into the target machine and restart it. As it powers on, you need to get into the boot menu before Windows loads. The key varies by manufacturer — usually F12, F2, Del, or Esc. Mash it a few times right after the power button.

From the boot menu, select your USB drive. If it appears twice (one with "UEFI" prefix, one without), pick the UEFI one.

Try before you buy

Mint boots into a live desktop — a full working environment running entirely off the USB drive. Nothing is installed yet, nothing on your machine has changed. Have a poke around if you like.

When you're ready, double-click "Install Linux Mint" on the desktop.

The installer

The first few screens are easy: language, keyboard layout, and optionally connecting to Wi-Fi. Check "Install multimedia codecs" if you want MP3s and videos to work out of the box.

The one screen that deserves your full attention is Installation type. You'll see two main options:

• Erase disk and install Linux Mint — the straightforward path. Wipes everything on the drive and gives Mint the whole thing. Use this if this is a dedicated Linux machine or you don't need what's on it.
• Install alongside Windows — sets up a dual-boot. A slider lets you divide the disk between the two. You pick Windows or Linux at startup each time.

If you're doing this for someone who has never used Linux before, "erase disk" on a spare machine is the least painful path. Dual-boot adds a decision every boot, which gets old.

After that: timezone, then your name, a username, and a password. The installer will churn for a few minutes, then ask you to restart.

First boot

When prompted, remove the USB drive and press Enter. The machine will reboot into your fresh Linux Mint install.

On first login you'll be greeted by the Welcome screen. The most useful thing in there is the Update Manager — open it and install any pending updates before doing anything else.

If you have an Nvidia GPU, the Driver Manager (also in the Welcome screen, or under Menu > Administration) will detect it and offer the proprietary driver. Worth doing — the open-source default is fine for a desktop but the Nvidia one is noticeably better.

That's it. You're done.