When you think of cinnamon, what comes to mind? Pumpkin pie? Hard candy?What if I told you it was also a Linux desktop environment?That’s right, Cinnamon is the default desktop for the Linux Mint distribution, which should immediately give you a clue as to its popularity.You see, Linux Mint is one of the more popular Linux distributions on the market. One of the biggest reasons for this is that Linux Mint is very user-friendly, and Cinnamon is a big reason the distribution attracts so many new users.Cinnamon is simple.Cinnamon is familiar.Cinnamon is lightweight.I’m getting a bit ahead of myself.What Is Cinnamon?As you’ve probably already pieced together, Cinnamon is a Linux desktop. Although it’s not limited to Linux Mint, it’s the default desktop environment for that particular distribution.For those who might want to know a bit of backstory, Cinnamon was created as a result of the evolution of GNOME. When GNOME 3 was released, a good portion of the Linux community had feelings about it … many of which were not good. The community didn’t like the change from GNOME 2 because that particular desktop was so familiar. The age-old desktop metaphor of panel/menu/system tray was ingrained in users, and GNOME 3 was a major deviation from that layout. Gone were the traditional panel and desktop menu, and a vast number of users didn’t like the idea of changing their workflow.That’s what birthed the idea of Cinnamon. The end result was to create a new desktop that carried on the tradition of GNOME 2 and that all-too-familiar layout. When Cinnamon was released, it was a breath of familiar air that so many users had grown to depend on.What Makes Cinnamon So Special?As I’ve made clear, Cinnamon is familiar, and that goes a very long way to help users transition from other operating systems (such as Windows).The Cinnamon layout is as simple and basic as it gets. It’s a panel, a desktop menu, a system tray and clickable icons (either on the desktop, the panel, or both). Click on the desktop menu, and you’ll be greeted by a collection of categories, such as Accessories, Graphics, Internet, Office, etc. (Figure 1).Figure 1: The Cinnamon desktop menu is basic, simple, but also efficient.This is a menu that is as familiar as the Copy/Paste keyboard shortcuts, and anyone who’s ever used a graphical user interface (GUI) desktop will know exactly how to use it.And that’s pretty much the essential component of Cinnamon: It’s so familiar that anyone will immediately feel right at home. Unlike some other Linux desktops, there aren’t a lot of bells and whistles to get in your way.Another thing about the Cinnamon menu is that if you click on either the Administration or Preferences window, you get quick access to all of the options found within those categories. You don’t have to open a System Settings app and then search for what you need. Just open either one of those categories and scroll through the options until you find what you’re looking for.For instance, in the Preferences menu, you’ll find Accessibility, Account Details, Actions, Advanced Network Configuration, Applets, Backgrounds and more. The same thing holds true with the Administration menu.The thing about Cinnamon is that there’s no guesswork. This is as unassuming a desktop as you’ll find for Linux, and for many, that’s a very good thing.That doesn’t mean Cinnamon is bound to its own simplicity. For example, there’s a little thing called Desklets, which are tiny applications you can add to the desktop to expand its usability and features.Go to the Preferences category in the desktop menu and click Desklets. In the resulting window (Figure 2), click the Download tab, and you’ll see all the available Desklets you can download and install.Figure 2: The Desklets app allows you to install all sorts of tiny applications to Cinnamon.For example, you could install the Google Calendar Desklet, which displays your agenda from your Google Calendar.To install a Desklet, find the one you want and click the downward-pointing arrow. You’ll find a ton of options to choose from, so scroll away and install what you need.The Welcome AppAnother piece of the puzzle that bears pointing out is the Cinnamon Welcome app (Figure 3), which is something every desktop environment should replicate. This app gives users quick access to things like Desktop Colors, System Snapshots, Driver Manager, Update Manager, System Settings, Software Manager and the Firewall. There’s also documentation that can be easily accessed from this app that includes a collection of guides, a list of new features and release notes.Figure 3: The Cinnamon Welcome app will be a great help to a lot of users.This app can come in quite handy for those who are new to the Cinnamon desktop environment or Linux in general.ConclusionThe Cinnamon desktop environment is one I would recommend to any person looking to migrate to Linux without having to spend the time learning something completely new. With this level of familiarity at your fingertips, you won’t feel completely lost on a new operating system. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Cinnamon makes Linux considerably easier to transition from whatever OS you’re currently using.Cinnamon is well-designed, elegant and easy to use. What more would you want from a desktop interface?The post What Makes the Cinnamon Desktop So Appealing? appeared first on The New Stack.