Given the grave lapses that are described here, I hope it's obvious to you that absolutely yes, you should be using something else. I'll guess that Ubuntu might be your cup of tea.
"Obvious"? Now you are turning criticism from the thread into FUD. I used mint for a long time and really liked it. By issue with it was twofold: old packages and non-rolling release. But if those are not immediate concerns, I'd still recommend it to anyone wanting to try Linux.
Yeah you're right. Downloading Ubuntu now.
Don't have to believe everything on the Internet, including me, but I wouldn't be so fast. Ubuntu's interface is so annoying, I've seen many people turned away from Linux because of it and that's just a shame.
Ubuntu mate has the same desktop environment as Mint with Ubuntu underneath it.
The issues described are not going to impact the average user, and due to some of these issues Mint would probably be more convenient, for the average user.