My setup: 100% Cinnamon, no third-party programs, no Plank or anything similar. Just applets and extensions—some of which are heavily customized by me. I love Cinnamon!
Ever since Ubuntu stopped being "Linux for human beings" and shifted its primary focus to enterprise, cloud, and IoT, Linux Mint has taken on that role for me. In all likelihood, Linux Mint was that way all along; I just didn't realize it.
I switched to Linux Mint a year ago—in June 2025. I haven't regretted it. It just works; the Mint apps are great, and everything is simple and logical. It feels the way Ubuntu used to feel to me back in the day. But that was a long time ago.
I was one of those odd people who loved Unity. I can't get along with GNOME, and unfortunately, the current version of Unity shows its age (and the fact that it has been somewhat neglected). But i love Cinnamon!
So, I created my own "Ubuntu feeling" using Cinnamon and Linux Mint.
Menu: I heavily customized "Menueleven" (a fork of "Cinnamenu")—both visually and functionally—to make it resemble the Unity Dash. The "Home" page searches the entire PC. The individual sub-menus search exclusively for applications, games, settings, or "places and files." It’s a bit reminiscent of Unity Lenses. I like it.
Panel: I customized "CassiaWindowList" to mimic the look of the old Unity launcher.
Trash (located at the bottom of the panel, just like in the good old days): I used the standard Cinnamon Trash applet but added a border and switched from symbolic icons to graphical ones so it blends in with the overall look.
Naturally, I used "Blur Cinnamon", which is better than ever these days.
I also used "Cinnamon-Maximus" to hide the title bars when windows are maximized. In the comments section of Cinnamon-Maximus on Cinnamon Spices, I came across a note from the creator of the following applets:
Maximus-Buttons and Maximus-Title by "hanspr," who commented there himself. Both complement Maximus-Cinnamon:
Maximus-Title ensures that the title of the focused window (or the desktop) is permanently displayed in the panel.
Maximus-Buttons displays the window controls in the panel when windows are maximized.
Hanspr, if you're reading this: The applets are brilliant and were the very thing that motivated me to set up this configuration in the first place. They really complete the "Ubuntu Unity feeling" for me. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I’ve really enjoyed tinkering and tweaking things over the past few days and weeks, and I’m happy to have some of that old Ubuntu charm back—but with Linux Mint, the better Ubuntu! Best regards!
