martes, 8 de noviembre de 2011

An Old Computer: What Distro Should I Choose?


I have a computer that has seen better days. I used it with Mepis 8.0 and it worked without a glitch, but since I use now another computer (also with Mepis 8.0 as its main OS, although I also use on it Pardus 2011, Mandriva 2010, Mepis 11, antiX M-11, MiniNO, and Kongoni), I'd like to try a totally different distro as the main OS for my old computer this time.

It has to be a lightweight distro...my old computer is not able to run beautiful effects. Neither KDE 4 nor Compiz worked well on this old timer. I am thinking of Enlightenment or XFCe...but I'm open to any other lightweight distro. I know that antiX and MiniNo work like a breeze, but I'd like to try something new, for the sake of learning and experimenting...

Well...let's see what I can find. Any suggestions?

5 comentarios:

  1. I'd suggest going with Xfce; it's probably the DE that will provide the perfect balance between light weight and usability, and right now, Xfce 4.8 has 101% of the usability of GNOME 2.X. I would highly recommend #! 10 "Statler" Xfce, because it looks really nice (minimalist, but it's not ugly boxy 1980s-style minimalism), it can use as little as 100 MB of RAM in live mode on my laptop which has 4 GB of RAM available, and it's really user-friendly. Plus, it can upgraded in a rolling manner like Debian (because it's based on Debian) simply by pointing the repositories at the latest stable release when that release comes out.
    I'd also recommend Lubuntu; it tends to be fairly lightweight, though its Ubuntu lineage means it won't be quite as lightweight as #!. It's also really user-friendly, and its Ubuntu lineage means you'll probably never have trouble finding the packages you want and making it work with the computer's hardware.
    --
    a Linux Mint user since 2009 May 1

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  2. Try Windows Vista. Works like a charm with low-spec computers ;-)

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  3. @Mechatotoro LOL

    now, I'm guessing it uses integrated graphics? Which CPU? Most probable is you'll end up using xfce like PV suggested.. cuz I think you'll need something light. KDE4 is really heavy so you could try XFCE of Gnome 2.

    BTW I'm looking for a place where I can shop old computers (second handed) designed for Win XP. You know of such a place around the University?

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  4. @ PV,

    Thanks for the suggestion. Let's see what CrunchBang can do for my machine.

    @ Mechatotoro,

    Yeah!!! The install is very quick, they say. It will take just one week! :P

    @ Fenrir,

    As you said, integrated graphics & sound. I don't remember the rest of the specs, though. I'll get them once I have enough time to turn it on again, hehe!

    Concerning your question, I don't know of such a place near the university. There used to be a small shop like that in the Outlet Mall...I wonder if it is still there.

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  5. There's a place on the way to Mu/noz& Nane, close to Moby Dick. Dolso Bibimbab anyone?

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