which is good on an older computer

[mymoodz]

I had a sony viao laptop that i gave to my cousin. she says that the windows vista installed in it has considerably slowed down. I was thinking of installing ubuntu for her on it. the computer is from 2008 and as you might see almost obsolete. but it works fine for her as she only needs it for internet and stuff. it has a dual core with 2GB ram. so should we use the latest version or an earlier version of ubuntu on it?

[xzhamppa]

it's up to you, but i would least try the latest and if it is too slow i would consider something like lubuntu.

[Petro Dawg]

I had a sony viao laptop that i gave to my cousin. she says that the windows vista installed in it has considerably slowed down. I was thinking of installing ubuntu for her on it. the computer is from 2008 and as you might see almost obsolete. but it works fine for her as she only needs it for internet and stuff. it has a dual core with 2GB ram. so should we use the latest version or an earlier version of ubuntu on it?

Dual core and 2 GB ram obsolete???? What is the world coming to?

I expect the latest version of Ubuntu will run fine as long as the hardware is compatible. Try a live session from the disk/USB first before installing to be sure all the hardware works (note, it will be running slower on live boot than on full installation).

Since you are installing this to give to some else though, I would recommend installing Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on it so your cousin is not faced with having to re-install a new version when the support for the latest versions end. I always install LTS versions for family.

[BrunoLotse]

I am running SONY VAIO 2006 with one CPU and 1 GB RAM. My Ubuntu 12.04 LTS runs like a charm.Cheers, Bruno

[sudodus]

I would try alternatives in the following order.

1. Lubuntu 13.04 and Lubuntu 13.10 or Xubuntu 13.04 and Xubuntu 13.10 (to be released very close to 12.04 end of life). Lubuntu 13.10 will have zRAM. It is developing well, several bugs of 13.04 are fixed, and I think it will be a nice experience.

2. Ubuntu 12.04 versions/derivatives with LTS until April 2017 If some important driver for your computer is missing in 13.04 and 13.10, because that hardware has been abandoned by newer Ubuntu versions, the best alternatives are

- LXLE by ronniew

http://lxle.net/index.php?id=article...h-12043-update
http://sourceforge.net/projects/lxle...ent%20Release/
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.p...8#post12762338 and

- PreciseGnomeClassicTweaks by kansasnoob

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Pr...eClassicTweaks
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1966370

3. Other alternatives with security updates

- Xubuntu 12.04 LTS is also good but has only long time support until April 2015.

- Lubuntu 12.10 has end of life in April 2014, at the same time as the next long time support version, Lubuntu 14.04.

[deadflowr]

You should be able to run any version or variant of Ubuntu just fine.

Of course, with running Ubuntu well, really depends on the graphics card in use.

Where as xfce(Xubuntu) and lxde(Lubuntu) are lightweight for starters and though it can be heavy Kubuntu is easy to disable resource hogging effects, Ubuntu is heavy and disabling effects is not as easy as with Kubuntu.
A five year old system should have a graphics card that's suitable for Ubuntu, but you never know.

[cactus john]

I'm running 64 bit 13.04 on a Toshiba X205, core 2 duo w/ 2gb ram, a HP dc5700 Core 2 duo, running 12.10 64 bit w/ 2.5 gb ram & a 13 yr old HP P4 running Lubuntu 12.10 w/ 512 gb ram ( and it does run Ubuntu 12.04, slow, but it does it. )

Give the latest a try... you should not have a problem.

[RadicaX]

I have only a Gig of Ram myself and a dual-core processor, and Xubuntu 12.04 runs like lighting on it. But feel free to run the newest ones or older ones. The newest ones can have features quicker to it, but you get more security updates on the LTS for a longer time, meaning you do not need to upgrade every 9 months. Ubuntu 12.04 would run fine on that system. Kubuntu starts out with a menu and task bar system set more like Windows. She might like that more. Try them out.

[TVTrukChik]

I have heard some people say that the Vaios are problematic with Ubuntu. Never had one myself, just something for you to consider. I have 13.04 running on a Dell laptop with a Core Duo (dual core, 32-bit processor). I think it's got 2GB of RAM. Runs just fine. Can't even remember the last time I needed to reboot it.

[kurt18947]

Sony Vaios do seem to have a reputation for being a bit 'non-standard' in their hardware implementations. I've never dealt with one so have no firsthand experience. If you're not internet limited, you could try a few different live CD/DVD/USB versions to see if one is better about hardware recognition than another.