We will not explore the history of Linux Mint since that is a well-trodden path, but the one thing that has become true is that Debian-based distributions like Ubuntu and Mint have won the day, taking out earlier contenders like Fedora and openSUSE heavyweights earlier on.
The first thing about Mint is that you must choose between using either Cinnamon or MATE — different desktops offering different approaches but doing the same task. So it is really a matter of taste. Nonetheless, the desktop of choice seems to be Cinnamon.