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Thread: Gnome 3.6.2 - Lighten the load a bit for a single core Atom netbook?

  1. #1
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    Gnome 3.6.2 - Lighten the load a bit for a single core Atom netbook?

    Hello! I'm running Gnome 3.6.2 on my CR48, which is a single core Intel Atom CPU, 2GB of RAM, and a slowish SSD. I have found very few operating systems cooperate nicely with the CR48's underpowered stature but I was quite surprised that in the Linux world, even KDE 4.10 and Gnome Shell (normally seen as heavier environments) ran moderately well on it. Being more of a fan of Gnome, I'm using that for the long haul. I find that while Gnome runs moderately well, it does have some sluggish tendencies when it's transitioning in and out of the dash menu and things like that. I'm curious if there are any settings I can adjust to eliminate those transitions. That way if I hit the super key, there's no smooth transition making the experience nice and fluid, it's just BAM - instantly I'm in the activities menu. I'm willing to bet that if I can eliminate the graphical eye candy animated part that I might gain a little bit of performance when in that area of Gnome on my rather bismal laptop. Any suggestions?

  2. #2
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    Re: Gnome 3.6.2 - Lighten the load a bit for a single core Atom netbook?

    I don't believe you can get rid of the animations in Gnome Shell, they're baked in to the desktop. You can speed up the animations using the Impatience add-on, but the reality is that you can only do so much with a low powered machine and an "all singing, all dancing" desktop environment. The best way to speed up your Chromebook is to use a lighter DE, such as Mate, XCE or LXDE.

  3. #3
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    Re: Gnome 3.6.2 - Lighten the load a bit for a single core Atom netbook?

    Quote Originally Posted by PhilGil View Post
    I don't believe you can get rid of the animations in Gnome Shell, they're baked in to the desktop. You can speed up the animations using the Impatience add-on, but the reality is that you can only do so much with a low powered machine and an "all singing, all dancing" desktop environment. The best way to speed up your Chromebook is to use a lighter DE, such as Mate, XCE or LXDE.
    I was kind of thinking that was the case. I was partially hoping I could make some alterations to tailor it a bit better, but I knew I was working with a near impossible feat considering that netbook is just so underpowered. I've seen Gnome Shell run fantastically on rather low end hardware but even that low end hardware is still something far better than what came baked into the CR48 netbook. Ah well, figured I'd try. Thanks for the insight!

  4. #4
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    Re: Gnome 3.6.2 - Lighten the load a bit for a single core Atom netbook?

    You're welcome. I had the same issues with an early generation netbook – Gnome Shell would run, but not as smoothly or quickly as I wanted it to. Mutter is very resource efficient (as compositing window managers go) and is a commendable achievement by the Gnome team, but the lack of customization means you can't tune it for the best performance on every device.

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