Firsly thank you for letting me post.

We have two Windows 11 HP Laptops. One now being spare I have installed a version of Linux Mint.
A new Linux user at age 87 Now on a new learning curve. Mint OS is running well.*
My first observation is Linux is for PC enthusiasts by having to enter text to run a number of options takes me back to the early DOS days.
To encourage Windows users to move over to Linux this needs to change.*
Windows users are dissatisfied*the way Microsoft is throwing unwanted bloatware with most Windows updates.
Many users would love to kick MS into touch including myself but Linux at the moment needs improvements.

Graham in Lincoln UK

I would say it is not true. Probably it is your first impression and probably it looks like it is the reality, but the linux terminal and the early dos consoles are not really comparable. It knows much more, has a lot of different functionalities. Obviously for a few user all of these features can be unknown. You need to learn a lot about it.
The most important thing is: using this command line terminal you can configure your system, any part of it. From the other hand you can have a GUI (desktop) to use and also you can have menus, bars, buttons, whatever you want. It is all there and available. And we have several different GUIs/desktops to choose from and you can also fully customize them. So that improvement is already done.

Pan64. Your Quote...And we have several different GUIs/desktops to choose from.

Thank you for your prompt reply...How do I Select/install a GUI ?
At the very least a default sample GUI should auto with the Linux OS install.

My first post was to shows the difficulty a new Linux user faces and having to search for the GUI is an example.

When it comes to installing stuff, Linux is peerless! You have a package manager: in Mint and all other Debian derivatives, it's called apt. It has several user interfaces including the purely graphical and widely used synaptic; I believe that Mint also has its own Mint-specific graphical update manager. You can specify the desktop you want to install and apt will get it for you and install it alongside all its dependencies.

There are several big Windows-like desktops with icons, drag-and-drop, a customised selection of apps and lots of graphical configuration tools: the main ones are Gnome, KDE and XFCE. If you want something smaller and lighter for an old machine, there are simple window managers like fluxbox and ice that you run with a menu.

Installing a new desktop doesn't mean that you lose the old default one: you can choose which to use when you log in.

I have a friend who runs AntiX and she wouldn't know what to do with a text terminal if she saw one, but she never needs to see one. She can do everything graphically just like she would in Windows.

I guess linux mint comes with GUI. Would be nice to know what do you see and what did you install at all (and how).

Linux Mint comes with a choice of desktops from the download site at the link below. Which one did you select?

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

What options do you need to enter text to run? If you have a specific question you should post a more detailed message on what specifically the problem is. I agree with the posts above. There is really no need to use a terminal if one does not want to although doing so is usually faster in most cases.

This site is just a group of volunteer Linux users who donate time and knowledge to try to help others and no one here is in charge of what Mint or Linux developers in general do. You might try posting at the Mint forums where some developer might read it.

Did you do an online search for details on Mint as it has a User Guide available for download at the link below which would be useful for someone new.

https://www.linuxmint.com/documentation.php

Graham UK,

I totally disagree with your sentiments.

I have been using Linux Mint for many years and I can assure you that the use of terminal is minimal compared to many other Linux distros.

Admittedly the command line does come in handy, but many of the people for whom I have installed Linux Mint never ever touch a terminal (and would not know how to!)

They just get on with using their computers.

...and...
All of this is incorrect. Linux works just fine, and installs a GUI desktop by default, unless you specifically tell it not to. As noted, for the majority of users, using the terminal/command prompt isn't needed to install, run, or update software. If you installed Mint, you already HAVE a GUI desktop, and if you want more you can see them on their own website:

https://linuxmint.com/download.php

...with examples/explanation of Cinnamon, Mate, and XFCE. And you can install Gnome or KDE, by following the instructions you can find with an Internet search, if the three desktop GUI's mentioned don't fit your likes. Your posts here seem like you just generally want to say how bad Linux is, and not much else. Saying Mint doesn't have a desktop GUI is plain wrong.

As far as a graphical front-end for the apt package manager is a GUI known as Synaptic package manager. As other respondents have sighted Linux Mint might have a skinned venation of synaptic.

Again, this has little to nothing to do with the OP's original question. They mentioned/said nothing about the package manager.