Other Ubuntu desktop enviroments?

[momrocker]

Other then Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, and Mythbuntu, are there any other Ubuntu desktop enviroments that are at least up to par with the normal Ubuntu desktop? And if there are, could you name a few? I would prefer if it was officially supported by Ubuntu, but it doesn't really matter.

[XubuRoxMySox]

It all depends on what you're looking for. For "warp speed," use no desktop environment at all. Use a window manager rather than a full-blown d.e.

For example, Openbox is minimal and amazingly configurable. A right-click on the desktop opens the main menu (Crunchbang, for example, is an Ubuntu-based distro with amazing power, beauty, and speed - and no desktop environment at all.

Lubuntu is on it's way (expected to appear alongside Kubuntu and Xubuntu in the next release - April 2010) and uses the ultralight and ultra-simple LXDE desktop environment. In my opinion it's buggy and frustrating, immature, not ready for prime time yet. But it bears watching. It holds alot of promise.

Folks have been singing the praises of the Enlightenment desktop for quite awhile now. It has some amzing features like animated wallpaper! Despite that it's pretty lightweight and still under heavu development like LXDE is.

There's the Awesome Window manager (not a true desktop environment), there's Fluxbuntu (Fluxbox), Spri (IceWM), and Masonux (LXDE) to choose from for the ready-made Ubuntu with the chosen desktop. You can google them all for links and screenshots.

It's alot of fun to "build your own" using the minimal Ubuntu CD and adding in favorite applications and desktops. The possibilities are endless!

Cruise around the Desktop Environments sub-forum here for some interesting info on the different d.es.

Enjoy!

-Robin

[kerry_s]

Other then Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, and Mythbuntu, are there any other Ubuntu desktop enviroments that are at least up to par with the normal Ubuntu desktop? And if there are, could you name a few? I would prefer if it was officially supported by Ubuntu, but it doesn't really matter.

have you tried linux mint? it's still ubuntu, but it has all the restricted stuff you would install already.
i personally like the way it's setup better than ubuntu.
check it out:
http://www.linuxmint.com/

ubuntu based:
http://distrowatch.com/search.php?ca...&status=Active

[SunnyRabbiera]

If you want lightweight, try LXDE too.
LXDE is fresh faced and still a little rough around the edges, but its made a lot of progress in such a short time.

[momrocker]

have you tried linux mint? it's still ubuntu, but it has all the restricted stuff you would install already.
i personally like the way it's setup better than ubuntu.
check it out:
http://www.linuxmint.com/

ubuntu based:
http://distrowatch.com/search.php?ca...&status=Active

I actually have tried Linux Mint, but I came back because it ran pretty slow on my computer compared to Xubuntu, and it also seemed like more of a windows clone than Linux

though I do like your second link, has alot of distros on it I've never heard of

[Gene Rodgers]

Linux Mint 7.0 is a nice distro and runs wall as an install. True it is slower on the "Live" cd but is much faster as an install. It has the extra codecs already in the program so you don't have to search everywhere. It also has Frostwire, a P2P program better than AMule which Ubuntu provides. Xubuntu seems to be the best distro, in my opinion. I use Amarok to listen to streaming radio feeds of music and record them with Aucadity which has the mp3 codecs installed. Kbuntu, Ubuntu and none of the others have this codec (libmp3lame.so) installed. It can only be retreaved from the restricted repositories. I personally like Amarok 1.4 as it has thousands of feeds of all kinds of music and programs under Shout Cast. The later versions of Amarok deleted Shout Cast from the menu. OBTW the Distro of Xubuntu 8.04.1 is the distro to start with and then use the Update Mgr. to upgrade to 8.10 then 9.0 and you keep all your features. On my computer I lost sound on Amarok when I straight installed Xubuntu 9.10. Also had the same loss of sound when trying Ubunto 9.10 and Kubuntu 9.10.

Good luck, whatever your choice.

Gene - W5FFA

[chrisinspace]

I'm itching to try LXDE and looking forward to Lubuntu. In the meantime, I'm thinking about loading a copy of U-Lite on an old laptop I rebuilt for my mom. I put Xubuntu on it last year and it runs ok, but I think it needs something even lighter. These days, Xubuntu demands almost as much in the way of resources as the default Ubuntu with Gnome. Has anyone spent much hands-on time with LXDE or U-Lite?

Another fun, light Ubuntu-based distro is CrunchBang. I've been running it in VirtualBox for a few days now and I'm loving it. It's very easy on resources, pretty simple to customize, and you can still make it look interesting. It uses the OpenBox window manager and the Tint2 panel to create something of a desktop environment. There's a little learning curve involved and most changes are done manually through config files or in some cases simple GUIs, but there is something to be said for its simplicity.