 | This article needs to be updated. (September 2024) |
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Cinnamon-logo.svg){kind=logo} | |
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:LinuxMint22-Wilma-English.png) Cinnamon 6.2.7 as seen on Linux Mint 22 "Wilma" | |
| Developer(s) | Linux Mint team |
|---|---|
| Initial release | December 20, 2011 |
| Stable release | 6.2.9[1] 
/ 8 August 2024 |
| Repository | |
| Written in | C (GTK), JavaScript, and Python |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | Desktop environment |
| License | GPL-2.0 |
| Website | projects |
Cinnamon is a free and open-source desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems, which was originally based on GNOME 3, but follows traditional desktop metaphor conventions.
The development of Cinnamon began by the Linux Mint team as the result of the April 2011 release of GNOME 3, in which the conventional desktop metaphor of GNOME 2 was discarded in favor of GNOME Shell. Following several attempts to extend GNOME 3 so that it would suit the Linux Mint design goals through "Mint GNOME Shell Extensions", the Linux Mint team eventually forked several GNOME 3 components to build an independent desktop environment. This separation from GNOME was finished with the release of Cinnamon 2.0.0 on October 9, 2013. Applets, extensions, actions, and desklets made explicitly for Cinnamon are no longer compatible with GNOME Shell.
As the distinctive factor and preeminent desktop environment for Linux Mint, Cinnamon has generally received favorable coverage by the press, in particular for its ease of use and gentle learning curve. In regard to its conservative design model, Cinnamon is similar to the Xfce, MATE, GNOME 2, and GNOME Flashback desktop environments.