Back when it first came out, the whole Ubuntu/Unity/GNOME 3 mess caused quite an uproar. Many Ubuntu users (myself included) ended up defecting to other distributions, most ending up with Linux Mint due to the fact that it presents a friendly and familiar GNOME 2.32 interface.

The Linux Mint desktop.

To an Ubuntu user this would be a little bit of a learning curve, since instead of the two-bar setup that Ubuntu 10.10 and earlier had, there is a single bar with a single menu, set up to mimic the Windows desktop.

Superficially it appears as though Mint does things the right way and sets the clock to the standard 12-hour format instead of the bizarro military/24-hour format. This is the way it is done in every single other operating system, and is the way it should be done in desktop Linux (I don't care about anywhere else, since those users will be accustomed to it).
Unfortunately looks are decieving.

If I were to select a setting for something that has options such as a clock, I would expect the way the thing is set up to conform to the selected settings. Apparently the Mint developers, or any Linux developers for that matter, do not agree with me because despite my settings being set to display 12-hour time, it still forces me to set the clock in 24-hour time.
Speaking of time, Linux Mint 11 was released in 2011. 26 years prior to it's release Windows 1.x came out. Even Windows 1.x was capable of allowing the user to view the time in 12 or 24 hour format, and it also allowed the user to set the time in the SAME WAY IT IS DISPLAYED! Why is something like this so hard to get right? It's just a matter of addition and subtraction with a few letters stuck on the end anyways. Last I knew computers were capable of quite a bit more than that, so why can't they do such a simple task?

Ugh, anyways, the little calendar that pops up when you click on the time apparently displays the week number in addition to the day, which is a handy feature.

By default, the menu shows some "favorite" applications, as well as Places and System options that the Ubuntu/GNOME user would be familiar with already.

Clicking on All Applications brings up a list of all the installed applications.
The only problem I have here is the redundant All option that doesn't need to be there. Other than that I like the way it is arranged.