Originally Posted By: csandste
If your laptop is eight years old, Linux Mint Mate would probably be a bit faster than Cinnamon on boot up. Or you could try something really light like Lubuntu or Peppermint Linux or (slightly larger) Xubuntu or Ubuntu Mate (both about the same size as Linux Mint Mate).
The size and resource-intensiveness of a given distro's chosen or installed Desktop Environment is not going to play too terribly much in the sequence of events that happens before you get to a use-able desktop. The relative speed of one DE over another more involves the use of RAM, CPU and the requirement of 3D acceleration video during actual use that'll slow you down.
A speedy SSD or a faster HDD will speed up boot times, *as will disabling unnecessary services (in Windows-speak) and daemons (in Linux-speak) called upon during the boot sequence*. But OP is comparing apples to apples in stating that Win10 boots up faster than Mint.
I wholeheartedly suggest MATE, by the way, for light use. Things like LXDE, XFCE and some other purpose-built super-lightweight DE's, in my opinion, sacrifice a little too much polish and refinement - not to mention functionality and sometimes compatibility (try working with the outside world with AbiWord or Gnumeric). MATE is stable as a @#$% ROCK, has years and years of refinement behind it, and is actively developed and included by every major distro.