Ubuntu or Linux Mint?

[MTSoph14]

I'm going to get a new laptop here soon that will come with Windows 8 on it, so I want Linux on it.
But which version should I choose? I'll be using it for school and Minecraft mostly, and all my old PC programs are going to be run with WINE.
I've been using Ubuntu 12.10 with the 2005 Laptop I use now (for about 2 weeks now), but I get a lot of errors and such.
I've also heard that Mint runs smoother, and takes less RAM
Been using Windows all my life till now, so sorry for being a noob when it comes to Linux

 

[The Real Jdbye]

I'd go with Ubuntu, but that's just because I don't care much for Linux Mint's WM. I prefer Gnome over it. Note that Gnome is no longer the default in Ubuntu and the current default Unity is more suited for netbooks and tablet PCs than anything else, switching over to Gnome isn't hard though.
There's also better support for Ubuntu (more package repositories, etc)
You should try Linux Mint on a Live CD to see if you like the look and feel of it before you decide.

 

[FAST6191]

Try out the liveCDs or a VM for we can sit here going through points all day but it is you that has to use it. Both are pretty tightly made in my experience (some of the others are a bit rough around the edges if you go off piste as it were).

Resources wise.... neither are what one might call the lightest of linux distros but on a halfway modern machine it should not trouble things.

For my money mint is my go to distro if I need a heavyweight desktop linux, originally because it did media and I was too bone idle to copy and paste the three commands necessary. That said I have been toying with opensuse and fedora of late.

 

[The Riolu]

Use Linux Mint Debian Edition.

From past experience, Debian was more stable and I had less problems with Debian.

Ubuntu always gave me trouble.

 

[McHaggis]

I'm running Ubuntu, but with Cinnamon as my WM. On a fresh install, I'd probably go with Mint. Unity is a sack of crap.

 

[The Riolu]

I'm running Ubuntu, but with Cinnamon as my WM. On a fresh install, I'd probably go with Mint. Unity is a sack of crap.

Ever since GNOME 2 evolved into GNOME 3, Ubuntu and other distros haven't been the same.

I'm using Mint's version of MATE and I love it.