Thanks for bringing this distribution to my attention. I've been trying to force myself to adapt to Unity but I'm still not enjoying it. I feared switching to another distribution because I've grown accustomed to Ubuntu's ease of package management and hardware support. I don't have the time or inclination to fiddle with text file configurations any more these days.

Mint appears to address all of my concerns, providing a distro based on Ubuntu but stressing ease of use in ways Ubuntu was not willing to (including flash, full multimedia support, Oracle's java, etc in a fresh install). I am excited to give the live dvd a try!

I am especially encouraged by their plans for reconciling users' workflow patterns with Ubuntu's switch to Unity and the Gnome's new interface. Very pragmatic approach in my view.