I neither use Ubuntu, nor Mint. However, looking at the list of new features in Mint 20, my favourites are #4, #6 and #7. What are yours and why?
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Iāve been using Mint Cinnamon for about 2 years. I already installed Mint 20 Xfce beta, so yes, I will be upgrading my Desktop and laptop to release 20. I like items #1 & #2 plus the fact the software will be more up-to-date. There was one item that brother me #3 (snap support). I donāt how to use snap, so I suppose I will have to learn how to.
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Ubuntu is the one forcing Snap. Mint is the one who gives you the option to use snap, but never forces you to use it.
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exacly as @Akito said, snaps will be disabled by default, but you can enable it if you want so no need to worry about them unless you are just curious and want to take a look.
from the release notes:
Snap Store
The Snap Store is disabled in Linux Mint 20. For more information on this or to re-enable it read Snap Store ā Linux Mint User Guide documentation
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i liked #4 as well for the ease of sharing files on a local network. the name warpinator just makes that better. i also read (i think originally on distrowatch, but also in the release notes) that they are offering a specific theme to deal with small fonts in grub2 with hidpi:
Grub2 theme in HiDPI
If the grub2 theme looks too small in your HiDPI monitor, install the āgrub2-theme-mint-2kā package.
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#4 - warpintor- sharing on local network. Like at home? One PC to another PC over he home network?
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yes, that is my understanding. from here:
Warpinator
The star of the show in Linux Mint 20 is a new application called Warpinator.
10 years ago, Linux Mint 6 featured a tool called āGiverā which could share files across the local network. Without any server or configuration, computers would automatically see each others and you could simply drag and drop files from one to another. When the Giver project was discontinued it had to be removed from Linux Mint and weāve been missing that functionality ever since.
Warpinator is a reimplementation of Giver. Server configuration (FTP, NFS, Samba) is overkill for casual file transfers between two computers, and itās a real pity to use external media (Internet services, USB sticks, external HDDs) just to share files when thereās a local network which could do just that.
With Warpinator, Linux Mint 20 brings back easy file sharing across the local network.
The main window shows you the computers on the local network which are also running Warpinator:
it also looks like they may offer an option to add warpinator to mint 19.x installations (from mintās github):
Mint 19.x and Ubuntu Bionic (18.04) users
Add this PPA to satisfy dependencies (for the time being):
Otherwise,
meson builddir --prefix=/usr (I think it needs to be /usr for gobject introspection to work). ninja -C builddir sudo ninja -C builddir install
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I can confirm the first quote in your last post. A while ago, I set up an FTP server on one of my Raspberry Piās, just because I often transfer files onto my PC from this Pi. This is everything but an elegant solution. However, Warpinator sounds easy and seems to fit in the empty lot that was left behind when Giver left.
The only thing I wonder is, what if the network stuff is wrongly set up? Then this easy tool wonāt be as easy. For example, if you have set up a computer to be invisible on the network. Then Warpinator will simply not work. Or when you are on the guest network, usually the 2 networks are separated for security reasons. Then Warpinator also wouldnāt work.
So I guess everything has its pros and cons, as it is always the case.
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@01101111, the reason I was concern about snaps was that I read that Chromium was not supported as an install thru Mint. I use Chromium sometimes, so I want to get it installed on Mint 20. And I also wonder, what else might be available on snaps.
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the release notes link to this page with a few different ways to install chromium. the very last one describes how to do so through the snap store. that is followed by a link to a more in depth description of mintās criticism of snaps and the snap store. you can browse what is available from the snap store here.
in case it is of interest, mint comes with with flatpak installed by default. it is similar to the snap concept. their hub (like snapās store) is here though it does not include chromium browser.
edit: in case some of this comes across as just one distro trying to set themselves apart from another, i would add that i have read of ubuntu users uninstalling snap on their systems because they also donāt like the performance.
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final edit? maybe 
i just noticed when reading this whole thing that the method it describes for installing the snap store involves a couple of extra steps over the one that describes how to install chromium from the snap store. i would definitely follow the one on this page if you decide to install snap.
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out of curiosity i started up a mint 20 xfce vm to see what configuration options were available. you are correct that there arenāt a whole lot of settings. i did read a passing comment on github that someone was using it between arch and mint so at least portability sounds like an option.
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Yes, so perhaps the file exchange is being made very easy and accessible, but it requires a perfectly set up network (even if it is in many situations the case anyway). So all problems that are network related are still not solved. Maybe it would be a good idea for them to append a quick How-To as to what the network should be set up like, with many examples to copy from.
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I would have to say #4. Almost also #1, but my main file browser is āDouble Commanderā.
Although I still do some distro-hopping, just to check out different distros, my main ādriverā
has been Mint-MATE for over 10 years. However, I find myself using BionicPup, both the 32 and the 64b versions, more and more.
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@01101111, would installing Chrome (which is the same as Chromium) forego the snap problem?
Is Chrome a trusted install for Linux Mint in your opinion?
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yes, installing chrome can be done without adding snapd to your system. i just did so on a mint 20 xfce vm according to this guide. the guide is a little older than mint 20, so please ignore what it says about installing chromium at the top. the bottom basically says go to https://www.google.com/chrome, download the .deb file for debian/ubuntu(/mint) and double-click the icon in your downloads folder (or wherever you have your downloaded files stored) to let gdebi (package installer) install it.
i donāt use chrome so i donāt really know about its trust level either personally or in general. it seems to be a fairly well liked and commonly used browser from what i understand though.
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since you asked about trust and part of my answer was to install a .deb file (in addition to being tangentially related to some previous exchanges we have had about where the packages you install come from: repositories and ppaās), i wanted to clarify that it is a good idea that you trust both the person recommending a deb package to install as well as where you will get that package from. deb packages are a bit like exe files in windows especially on a distro like mint where double-clicking will automatically open the package installer.
in this instance since you know google makes chrome and hopefully you plan on getting the .deb from their site it seems like it will be just fine.
one other thing to keep in mind with a .deb install is that some of them will be added to your regular system updates, but some will not (related askubuntu thread). it seems that chrome is one that will receive updates (from here):
Double-click the installer, which has the extension .deb , as if it were a .exe installer in Windows. Then itāll install itself automatically.
Furthermore, itāll add the software source for Chrome to your software sources list, so that Update Manager will automatically offer you updates for Google Chrome as soon as they become available.
i only use one program on my systems that is installed with a deb file. it was originally recommended by an itsfoss.com article (so i trust the source of the recommendation) and i have never had any issues with it. i am not entirely sure if it gets updates. that is one of the reasons i looked for the askubuntu page linked above as well as decided to come back and add a bit more to my reply 
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Another question ā maybe good for other Linux 19.3 users also.
Should I install the new Linux 20.0 or is it just as good to wait for the upgrade to come out that upgrades my system from 19.3 to 20.0 or 20.1?
The upgrade from Linux 18.3 to Linux 19 went well for me.
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Previous upgrades went well for me as well (generally). If you wait a couple of weeks before performing the upgrade, things usually run smoothly.
In my case, since I donāt mind some level of risk, I upgrade 3 computers today (19.3 --> 20).
- One completed without any issue.
- One got stuck at āmintupgrade checkā.
- One got stuck at āmintupgrade upgradeā.
I guess I will wait for a āmintupgradeā update and will try again.
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Thanks for sharing your experience with Mint 20 @LoneSt4r. And Welcome to āItās Fossā.
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