Xubuntu or Lubuntu More Lightweight?

[cg2916]

I have a very old laptop and I want to know if Xubuntu or Lubuntu will run faster. I want the fastest experience possible.

[Phosphenes]

Try them both and see which works better. I think lubuntu has lower system requirements and that's what I use on my netbook but I also tried xubuntu and that runs about the same. It's really just about which desktop you prefer. Lubuntu is very basic.

[snowpine]

What are your hardware specs? Have you read the System Requirements on the wiki?

Personally I find LXDE a tiny bit lighter than Xfce.

[nzjethro]

I hear that Lubuntu is more lightweight.

For the fastest experience perhaps you should consider a minimal install of Ubuntu, then installing Xfce or LXDE over top. Installing either one of Lubuntu or Xubuntu will still have some bloat, and this will reduce system performance. If you do a minimal install, you just get the barebones of the OS, and then you can install a lightweight DE to have an all-round lightweight system. If it's the fastest setup you want, and you're semi techno-savvy, I'd go for an Ubuntu minimal install with LXDE, or even Fluxbox or Openbox.

[kerry_s]

lubuntu

[LazyBoy]

I'm a fan of lubuntu. But the default screen savers are pigs. Change them if you want your laptop to keep working on anything after the screen saver comes up.

[FormatSeize]

Xubuntu is relatively lightweight, as in, it's lighter than Ubuntu and Kubuntu. Lubuntu is actaully lightweight. Or at least that's what my hardware was telling me.

[rabideau]

Having run both for about a week each... I have settled on Xubuntu. It is more elegant, complete and user-friendly for my uses. I have run both on an Atom processor, eeePC netbook without difficulty. Both seem MUCH faster than Unity.:o

[rojaasensei]

I must agree with Rabideau. User friendly with a very customizable desktop

[3Miro]

Lubuntu is lighter, but it comes at the cost sacrifice of features. There is little difference between Gnome and XFCE, however, there is significant difference between XFCE and LXDE.

Try both, see which one works better.

[XubuRoxMySox]

...There is little difference between Gnome and XFCE, however, there is significant difference between XFCE and LXDE.

I would describe Xfce as "Gnome Lite." But I would not say that there is "little difference!" There are BIG differences! I find Xfce to be much, much lighter and faster and more intuitive for me than Gnome was.

In fact, even on my old hand-me-down 'puter, I found no noticeable difference in speed between LXDE and Xfce! 'Cept that Xfce had lots more features, configurability, and versatility than LXDE.

-Robin

[Pirate Zoro]

I suggest you try both out and see which one works best, but I went with Xubuntu. Much more user friendly in my opinion, and not much notable difference in the speed and lightness of it. Just try them both and see which one works best for you

[caieng]

I would like to try them both, but, the newest iteration of Lubuntu, i.e. released for download a couple weeks ago, exceeds the capacity of the blank Verbatim CDROM's.

This is rather peculiar, not only because it would seem obvious that the size has exceeded the 700 megabyte capacity of the blank disks, but also because EARLIER versions of LXDE, including alpha releases from a couple of months ago, were NOT excessively large.

From a marketing perspective, it does look clumsy to release a distro that won't fit on the intended media....One wonders whether the engineers may have miscalculated some other aspects of the distro??? In the best case, it looks sloppy. In the worst case, the excessive size conveys the impression, at least to me, that folks in Ubuntuland, simply added some stuff to the Gnome version, and sent it on its merry way, one supposes without much testing, and certainly, without much thought.

But, apart from that, this is a thread which asks: XFCE, versus LXDE, which is "more Lightweight". (great question, by the way, at least in my opinion.)

So, can anyone explain to me, WHY the LXDE (supposedly "light weight" version of Ubuntu, IS LARGER than the burly Gnome version of Ubuntu (which, however, is ALSO too big to fit on a 700 MByte blank CDROM, but, it is nevertheless, less obese, than LXDE.)

CAI ENG
(yes, you are correct, I am a tad blimpy myself, or, at least, too verbose!!)

[XubuRoxMySox]

ooO0Ooo, duplicate thread! [-X

File size is not what is being referred to when we talk about "weight."

"Lighter" means that one desktop environment is less demanding on computer resources (RAM, processor) than another.

-Robin

[Megaptera]

I would like to try them both, but, the newest iteration of Lubuntu, i.e. released for download a couple weeks ago, exceeds the capacity of the blank Verbatim CDROM's.

This is rather peculiar, not only because it would seem obvious that the size has exceeded the 700 megabyte capacity of the blank disks, but also because EARLIER versions of LXDE, including alpha releases from a couple of months ago, were NOT excessively large.

I think that during the Alpha & Beta stages various _buntus (all D E s) have at some time exceeded the capacity of CDs. I think it's 'cos they are alpha/beta that this happens. Once RC is reached and beyond, then I think it's back to CD capacity again.

Size of the download though does not equate to speed of the D E as dixiedancer has already said.

[tjones00]

If you want the fastest/lightest look into a minimal openbox install with tint2 and gtk components. Like the old crunchbang who has now switched to a debian base.

Warning it will require a bit of work to figure out how you want it set up. So stage the install in a VM first.

[drawkcab]

If you want the fastest/lightest look into a minimal openbox install with tint2 and gtk components. Like the old crunchbang who has now switched to a debian base.

I was going to say the same thing except that I would need to somehow sneak thunar from xfce 4.8 on there too!

[troymius]

I switched 2x between Xubuntu and Lubuntu (I feel like I am in exile after the Unity coup) and settled down on Xubuntu. It took me 30 minutes to make it look and behave the way I like it.

I still think that Ubuntu Lucid Lynx was the best Linux ever (for me anyway).

I can't understand Unity, Gnome 3 and I don't like KDE. If XFCE follows the suit I will give up computers and go live in Alaska ;-)

[amjjawad]

I know it's an old thread but couldn't resist to vote for Lubuntu :D

[fparri]

I agree, Lubuntu 11.10 is way faster than Xubuntu 11.10 and perfect for my usage

[xtremo]

Xubuntu was good.....but I found Lubuntu made my old netbook run a lot better! So I stayed with it!