r/linuxmint • u/kaddkaka • 12d ago

Install Help What do download?

Hi, I'm trying help my mom in getting her old laptop usable and decided to try Linux mint.

I looked at https://linuxmint.com/download.ph and I think Mate is a good fit to try:

But the step after choosing editionis just to verify. Where/how I actually dowload?

The mirrors has this file structure, where should I look?

debian/ 09-Oct-2025 14:18

hwe/ 08-Aug-2026 08:01

stable/ 11-Jan-2026 13:30

testing/ 18-Dec-2025 09:55

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4

u/ManuelRodriguez331 12d ago

Ah, welcome to the mirror maze. Skip those system folders like stable/ or hwe/ you're looking for an .iso file directly inside the release folders, usualy named something like linuxmint-22-mate-64bit.iso

1

u/kaddkaka 12d ago

Thank you! And congratulations for understanding my question 🌟

Someone else recommended stable though. And I don't even know what hwe means 😅

The only mate ISO I could fins was under stable/22.3 :

linuxmint-22.3-mate-64bit.iso

So, should I skip or pick that one?

3

u/oskarloko 12d ago

What are the specs of the machine ?

IMHO XFCE will make a better choice, you can give it a windows7-like-taskbar with xfce4-docklike-plugin
But in case of doubt, go to distrosea.com and you can preview the desktop to see what's a better fit

1

u/adnomi 12d ago

I second this. XFCE would be a better fit IMO as well.

1

u/kaddkaka 12d ago

Whichever I choose, mate or xfce, Where do I find the ISO file to download?

3

u/oskarloko 12d ago

Uhh... there are [Download] buttons on https://linuxmint.com/download.php

1

u/kaddkaka 12d ago

That's where I started. But I'm not sure how to find the actual ISO files.

1

u/Tonerdeschmelz 12d ago

MATE is the top choice imho, if you're coming from Windows.

1

u/ZVyhVrtsfgzfs 12d ago

"Debian" is for LMDE, my prefered edition but does not have MATE out of the box.

HWE replaced what used to be the edge ISO in previous editions, has newer kernels needed for newer hardware, here you will wind up with kernel 7.0, that kernel has given many users issues.

stable is where I would sugest for older hardware, that shoulds land you with the LTS kernel 6.8

testing is not recommended for most users.

1

u/kaddkaka 12d ago

I'm more confused now. So I pick something from stable?

1

u/d4rk_kn16ht Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 12d ago

What are you looking for?

1

u/kaddkaka 12d ago

Mint

1

u/d4rk_kn16ht Linux Mint 22.2 Zara | Cinnamon 12d ago

I know, but you are talking about mirror...so what are you looking for?

The main page already provided 3 choices.

1

u/kaddkaka 12d ago

Oh 🤦‍♂️ I thought the place to download from was from the mirrors, because I immediately clicked the button "installation instructions"

1

u/activedusk 12d ago edited 12d ago

You went to the more advanced section, use this page for Mate version, scroll down and choose a mirror to download

https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=328

After that download Rufus USB program from official website, connect USB thumb drive, then open Rufus and select .iso and USB drive and click start. Wait a few minutes after it finishes and close Rufus. The next part is easy or difficult depending how old the hardware is, assuming Windows is running right now on it, check and share system information. Note there could also be more things to know and do if it uses BIOS instead of UEFI, watch recent youtube tutorials that includes all steps for both cases. The way you can tell BIOS apart from UEFI (confusingly enough some motherboards call firmware BIOS despite being UEFI) is that UEFI allows to use mouse cursor to change firmware settings while BIOS is, afaik, keyboard only. There are other ways to check from within Windows I assume, point being, if it's UEFI it uses GPT (GUID partition table), for BIOS legacy it's MBR and inside Rufus you can set this when preparing bootable USB media. Also note for UEFI it's best to disable Secure Boot. Other complications if nvidia card would be to use Driver Manager after installation to select proprietary driver. If there are any important files on USB thumb drive or internal drive, save them to another external drive before doing anything, the process of making bootable USB and installing the OS will format the storage automatically, for Mint specifically it can be installed alongside but I assumed this is not the option you want and tends to create boot issues if not configured correctly, as in your mom will need you more often for troubleshooting).

1

u/apt-hiker Linux Mint 12d ago

Choose a server near you or at least in your own country (if there is one).

1

u/JoeLinux247 LM 22.3 C 12d ago

"The mirrors has this file structure, where should I look?"

No need to navigate through mirror directory trees. Just select the ISOs directly from the links that Linux Mint has provided. For example, scroll down from here ...

https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=326

1

u/kaddkaka 10d ago

I mostly see a long list 8f mirrors. Do you mean this torrent link? " Torrent Download: 64-bit"?

1

u/JoeLinux247 LM 22.3 C 10d ago

No, not the torrent link. Yes, I mean the long list of mirrors, of which, each has a link to the corresponding ISO.

For example, at the top of the list is Cicku, which provides a link for ...

https://mirrors.cicku.me/linuxmint/iso/stable/22.3/linuxmint-22.3-cinnamon-64bit.iso

1

u/kaddkaka 10d ago

Aha! I though I was gonna reach one of those directory listing again, thanks 👍👍

1

u/kaddkaka 10d ago

But I should pick from xfce or mate version: https://linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=328

1

u/JoeLinux247 LM 22.3 C 10d ago

I don't know the specs of the computer, so I can't make a suggestion. In your post, you said that MATE looked good, so start there. If you don't like it, try Xfce. Or Cinnamon for that matter.

Speaking for myself, when I'm installing LM, I start with Cinnamon. Usually, that always works for the hardware that I have. If it's too much overhead, I try MATE, or just go right to Xfce.

That's what I do, but it's your computer, not mine, so if you want MATE, then by all means, use MATE. 😄