Try out Linux distros from USB flash drive

Soooo, after pushing Linux to the side after Ubuntu went with Unity a couple of years ago. All of my PCs are currently running Windows 7. I had some time to spare during the school holidays so I thought I'd see what was happening in the Linux scene. I got hold of the latest Ubuntu release 12.10 (Quantal Quetzel) as well as Linux Mint 14 (Nadia) with cinammon.

Quantal Quetzel? With Rapid(?Rabid?)Ringtail about to released, Canonical is running out of letters in the alphabet to alliterate with.

Since I wasn't sure which way I was gonna go, I needed a way to test out different distros. I knew that it was gonna involve Live USB discs and wanted a way to make ONE flash drive with all the distros on it. Luckily a quick google search let me to YUMI : Your Universal Multiboot Installer. This tool allows you try out as many distros of Linux as you want (drive space permitting). It supports most distros out of the box. It can also automatically download the correct ISOs for you.

Ubuntu 12.10 Quantal Quetzal

The install went very smoothly. Ubuntu booted without any issues. The hardware on my various PCs were all detected and had functioning drivers available. Unfortunately, while Unity has been refined A LOT, I still could not get used to it. After several hours I still felt stilted and uncomfortable. Basically the same way Windows 8 makes me feel. I may give myself a longer time to adjust later but not right now.

Linux Mint 14 Nadia (cinammon edition)

Since Mint is based on Ubuntu I expected no issues and there were none. Mint has a classic windows desktop feel. Apart from a minor issue (google is not the default search engine in Firefox) I felt really comfortable and will have no hassle running Mint day to day. Another potential issue is the fact that it uses openDNS' servers by default which could require some configuring if you're running custom DNS servers. Then again, if you are, it's likely reconfiguring won't be a difficult thing.

EDIT: 13.04 is known as Raring Ringtail.