Linux Mint is a very popular distribution and the developers have set out on a different path to Ubuntu in that the emphasis is definitely about evolving the desktop environment as opposed to redefining it completely.
The Cinnamon desktop looks very Windows-esque but with a lot of bells and whistles added to make it a top notch environment. Windows users instantly feel familiar with the Linux Mint operating system.
Those reviews that haven’t focused on the Cinnamon desktop have reviewed instead the Mate desktop environment which is basically a lighter desktop environment for users who have older hardware or hardware that misbehaves when running Cinnamon.