Linux Mint wanted a traditional desktop built on GNOME 3 technology. Default DE for Mint.
GNOME 3 / GNOME Shell replaced the traditional desktop with an activity-based workflow, full-screen app launcher, and dynamic workspaces. Cinnamon forks GNOME 3's underlying technology (Mutter, Clutter, GTK3) but provides a traditional desktop with panel, taskbar, system tray, and application menu — the metaphor most users are familiar with from Windows and earlier GNOME versions.
While MATE took the approach of preserving GNOME 2 wholesale, the Linux Mint team tried a different strategy: could they tame GNOME 3's new technology into a traditional desktop experience? The answer, after several frustrating attempts, was Cinnamon.
The journey started in April 2011, when GNOME 3 launched and Linux Mint's founder Clement Lefebvre faced a dilemma. Mint was one of the most popular Linux distributions, and its users overwhelmingly preferred a traditional desktop layout. Lefebvre initially tried to work within the GNOME 3 framework, creating 'Mint GNOME Shell Extensions' (MGSE) — a set of extensions that bolted familiar elements like a taskbar and application menu onto GNOME Shell. Linux Mint 12 (November 2011) shipped with MGSE alongside MATE.
But MGSE was a bandage, not a solution. GNOME Shell's extension API was unstable, extensions broke with every GNOME update, and the fundamental architecture made it difficult to achieve the traditional desktop experience Mint users wanted. In January 2012, Lefebvre took the plunge and forked GNOME Shell itself, creating 'Project Cinnamon.'
The first Cinnamon releases were still heavily dependent on GNOME 3 components, but Lefebvre and the Mint team steadily replaced one dependency after another. By October 2013, Cinnamon 2.0 achieved full independence — it was no longer a GNOME Shell frontend but a completely self-contained desktop environment. The team built their own file manager (Nemo), text editor (Xed), and system tools, creating a complete desktop stack.
Cinnamon became Linux Mint's flagship desktop environment, and Mint's consistent ranking as one of the most popular Linux distributions gave Cinnamon a massive user base. Lefebvre's design philosophy — that a desktop should be immediately familiar and productive, not a vehicle for UX experimentation — resonated with millions of users who wanted Linux without a learning curve.
GNOME 3.0 released — Linux Mint team begins exploring responses
Linux Mint 12 ships with MGSE (Mint GNOME Shell Extensions) as a stopgap
Public Cinnamon repository created from the GNOME Shell fork
Linux Mint 13 ships with Cinnamon 1.4 as primary desktop
Cinnamon 2.0 achieves full independence from GNOME Shell
Cinnamon develops its own file manager (Nemo), terminal, and system tools
Cinnamon 6.0 released with Wayland session support in development
“I'm actively seeking to create a desktop people can use and say 'this is better than GNOME 2.'”
Cinnamon proved that you can take modern technology and wrap it in a traditional interface without compromise. It became the gateway desktop for millions of Linux newcomers through Linux Mint, which consistently ranks among the top Linux distributions. The 'familiar by default' philosophy influenced how other projects think about UX transitions.
Together with MATE, Cinnamon represents the two possible responses to a radical upstream redesign: preserve the old (MATE) or build the new on modern foundations (Cinnamon). Both found their audiences, and both demonstrated that the GNOME team's assumption that everyone would follow them to GNOME Shell was optimistic at best.