Alternatives to Ubuntu

[createdcreature]

I have an old Packard Bell IMedia 5000-series and am running Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty) on it right now, but it is quite slow, as it only has 512MB of DDR-RAM , I am looking into another distro . I have looked at openSUSE and Xubuntu, but which is best for this. It has a 2.66GHz P4, 512MB DDR, 196MB ATI Radeon, 2 DVD drives, 1 Floppy drive, USB, Integrated sound, Integrated Ethernet, a winmodem (which I have taken out, a parallel port, an RS232 serial port, and a 240 volt power supply. It needs to have equivalents to all the programs in Ubuntu, but they do not need to be installed as standard. I do not like Fedora or Linux Mint, and Kubuntu is too hungry on hardware.

[kaldor]

Lubuntu is a lighter Ubuntu.

Scientific 6.0 is a very stable OS. Flies on an older PC I have. You mentioned not liking Fedora, but Scientific is a polished and desktop ready rebrand of RHEL; can't beat that

[Lash009]

I'm not sure what kind of software options it gives or if you'll like the User Interface, but you should consider puppy Linux. I've never used it myself, but when I saw your stats it was the first distro that came to mind.
Here's a linke to the main page: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1771446

[andymorton]

I'd give Crunchbang a try. http://crunchbanglinux.org/

[kaldor]

I'm not sure what kind of software options it gives or if you'll like the User Interface, but you should consider puppy Linux. I've never used it myself, but when I saw your stats it was the first distro that came to mind.
Here's a linke to the main page: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1771446

People underestimate specs a bit. I run compiz+Fedora just fine on a PC with lesser specs than his. Puppy feels too limited and old.

[verymadpip]

I'd give Lubuntu a go.

[Joe of loath]

Lubuntu will be perfect on this PC. I have a few laptops of a slightly lower spec than this, and they're perfectly usable and reliable with Lubuntu on.

[createdcreature]

Puppy Linux is not for me, but I will consider Lubuntu 11.04. However, I like XFCE, so I will try Xubuntu 11.04 as well. What do you think about openSUSE 11.4 with GNOME?

[zzzz401]

I use and love kubuntu but for older hardware I suggest xubuntu that is what they use at FreeGeek. You should take a look at FreeGeek.

[createdcreature]

I also don't like distros like Damn small linux and Feather Linux, as I think they are too restrictive and outdated, and Puppy Linux is not for me, as I am not used to openbox. I have used GNOME, XFCE, Fluxbox, and JWM. I would prefer the first two managers. I need a GUI, and I don't like Tiny core.