When comparing Ubuntu MATE vs TinyCore, the Slant community recommends TinyCore for most people. In the question“What are the best Linux distributions for desktops?” TinyCore is ranked 42nd while Ubuntu MATE is ranked 73rd. The most important reason people chose TinyCore is:
Can be as small as about 9MB, and with even X, wireless modules, and more, it takes up only 72MB.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Simplicity of Gnome with the power of Ubuntu
Debian was good to use but has limited documentation and is difficult to pick up. Ubuntu MATE brings the ease of design and logic of the Gnome 2 style desktop so it's easy to get around coupled with the vast documentation, forums and ease of learning/using the Ubuntu system.
Pro Works great on old laptops
It does not have a lot of system requirements so it works pretty well even on older laptops.
Pro Perfect for people who like Gnome 2
The goal of MATE is to maintain the look and feel of Gnome 2, while maintaining compatibility with Gnome 3. To that end, it has also forked and renamed many of Gnome's core applications. It benefits from the years of work and polish that have gone into the Gnome project.
Pro Highly configurable
Comes with an option to configure as Windows-like, Mac-like, Gnome-like, etc. in a single click. Wonderful to get you started without having to learn it all from scratch.
Pro Behaves like Ubuntu with Unity - after Ubuntu-Gnome transformation
No better place to continue Unity experience with Ubuntu (Left-side panel, HUD) and not as awkward as Gnome.
Pro Based on Ubuntu
Pro VERY small
Can be as small as about 9MB, and with even X, wireless modules, and more, it takes up only 72MB.
Pro Surprisingly customizable
Fluxbox window manager is especially slick looking all considered, and the options one gets with it's toolbar, app bar, and wallpaper are surprisingly complex for such a small distro.
Pro Use of tcz packages stored on media outside of MyData
Cons
Con No very good Software Center by default
The Software Boutique is not good. You can install Gnome Software from it.
Con Too much bloat included by default
Con Redundant
There is absolutely no reason to install it, since it uses the same package repositories as Ubuntu and you can transform any Ubuntu install into a Ubuntu MATE install.
Con Not bleeding edge
Users who want the latest and greatest software would be happier using Arch Linux, Antergos or another rolling release distro. However, because Ubuntu MATE is based on Ubuntu, users still have access to a large repository of recent software.
Con Not visually appealing
The operating system is not very pretty.
Con Can be somewhat slow to turn on
Once it is up and going it is unrivaled in speed, but it can be sluggish when it comes to turning on, restarting, or turning off.