If you're not a fan of Ubuntu, but you like the idea of Linux Mint, you have an option: Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE). This take on Linux Mint eschews Ubuntu in favor of the "Mother Of All Distributions," Debian.

LMDE 7 (aka "Gigi") is very similar to standard Linux Mint, but uses Debian 13 as its foundation. With this release, you also get the latest version of Cinnamon (from Linux Mint 22.2 "Zara") and LTS kernel 6.12. The latest Cinnamon desktop also gets integrated fingerprint recognition, improved libadwaita compatibility, OEM install support (so hardware manufacturers can pre-install the operating system), a new /tmp behavior (temporary files are stored in RAM), a refined user interface, the inclusion of APT 3.0, core application upgrades, and more.

There are caveats to consider with this latest release. First, 32-bit support has officially been dropped. Second, you'll have to manually install multimedia codecs for file formats like MP3 and MP4. Finally, the username and password for a live mode session is username mint and the password is blank.

If you’re already using a previous version of LMDE, you can upgrade by installing the mintupgrade tool with the command sudo apt install mintupgrade. Once that application is installed, run sudo mintupgrade and follow the onscreen instructions.

If you’re looking to do a fresh installation, go to the official LMDE site and download the ISO.