Alternatives to Unity - please advise

[troymius]

Ok, I gave Unity a good try but I just can't stand it. Sorry. So I switched to Ubuntu Classic (Gnome 2.3?). However, such switch will not be as easy in the future versions of Ubuntu. I read that it will only have Unity, while Gnome will have to be downloaded. Now I know that in such case I usually stumble upon problems that may be easy to solve for many but for me with a full time job and a 3 year old at home... difficult! So I am looking for a desktop that would have some simple old fashioned desktop environment as default. Could you please help me pick which one?

(1) Lubuntu
(2) Xubuntu
(3) Mint
(4) Fedora (oops)

I really like Gnome 2.3. It is simple, quick, clean. Hence option 3. Fedora has Gnome 3 - does anyone know if I can make it look and behave like Gnome 2.3? I hear good things about Mint but what if they switch to Unity as well?

I have a 4 year old notebook with 2Gb RAM. Thank you very much for your advise!

(PS who would think back in 1990's that one would beg for a less flashy Linux desktop? Haha!)

[b2zeldafreak]

I personally like KDE. It follows somewhat classic desktop interpretation, and makes it easy to get to your stuff. It also looks better than XFCE imo.

Or go for openbox and get a lightweight panel for it.

[halfpower]

Xubuntu uses XFCE and looks a lot like Gnome 2, but it is lighter weight than Ubuntu with Gnome 2. Kubuntu uses KDE and probably matches Ubuntu with Gnome 2 the best when it comes to functionality. Both Fedora and Mint give you a choice of KDE, XFCE, LXDE, etc. I'm not sure if Mint 11 has KDE or not. There are two choices to be made: 1) a distro, 2) a desktop environment.

[Scott Goodgame]

I used to use Lubuntu before i got my new computer and it was very quick. Xubuntu might be a good choice for you too, why not just download them both and try them out under VirtualBox inside your current install?

[ilovelinux33467]

I personally like KDE. It follows somewhat classic desktop interpretation, and makes it easy to get to your stuff. It also looks better than XFCE imo.

Or go for openbox and get a lightweight panel for it.

This.

[troymius]

I used to use Lubuntu before i got my new computer and it was very quick. Xubuntu might be a good choice for you too, why not just download them both and try them out under VirtualBox inside your current install?

Thanks Scott... my son just fell asleep and I only have a few moments... I thought I would ask first before I start installing and testing stuff. I used to enjoy doing that but just have zero time for it lately. I guess Ubuntu spoiled me since everything "just worked" and now I am paying for it :D

[b2zeldafreak]

I used to use Lubuntu before i got my new computer and it was very quick. Xubuntu might be a good choice for you too, why not just download them both and try them out under VirtualBox inside your current install?

Or if you have Ubuntu installed already, just sudo apt-get install them, and choose the session when you start up.

[trickstyhobbit]

I came to the same conclusions regarding Unity. It just wasn't for me. So I tried a few different distros and DEs and Xfce fits my purposes just fine. It seems to run a little faster than Gnome on my machine and I have not noticed any problems running any of the apps I need. As far as distros, Ubuntu has been the one I've used most and am most comfortable with, so I just run Xubuntu.



Just my amateur opinion

[KBD47]

Linux Mint 11 that's my suggestion. Sounds like you already like that type of interface better.
On my main computer I'm triple booting: win7, Mint 11, and Ubuntu 11.04 I really like Mint, but I'm trying to get used to the Unity desktop, and I think I'm slowly getting there. But when I get irritated with unity, I just boot up in Mint.

[kellemes]

Ok, I gave Unity a good try but I just can't stand it. Sorry. So I switched to Ubuntu Classic (Gnome 2.3?). However, such switch will not be as easy in the future versions of Ubuntu. I read that it will only have Unity, while Gnome will have to be downloaded. Now I know that in such case I usually stumble upon problems that may be easy to solve for many but for me with a full time job and a 3 year old at home... difficult! So I am looking for a desktop that would have some simple old fashioned desktop environment as default.

Having a full time job with a 2 and a 4 year old I know what you're talking about.. ;)
There is nothing easier then simply install the preferred windowmanager on your preferred basic system.. I currently have Kubuntu installed but because of some issues it has with my graphic-card I also have lxde (sudo apt-get install lxde) available.. based on OpenBox there is nothing that can go wrong.. nothing fancy about it, just a very classic Linux environment that simply works..

You'll always have the option to install any windowmanager there is available for the Linux desktop. Absolutely no reason to switch distribution..

[Rifester]

Install xubuntu-desktop...

[troymius]

Thank you all... Lots of good ideas! Will try them as time permits.

[troymius]

Few months later... still using Xubuntu and being very happy with it.

[Marzata]

A year ago we switched all our machines to Xubuntu and never looked back. Xubuntu is the best Ubuntu-based distro. Linus Torvalds switched to Xfce too.

[shadow of the locust]

Having tried (and disliked) the Unity interface I found this thread and as a result I installed Xubuntu.

Impressive so far. Installed perfectly on my Aspire One A150l.

Thank you.

[2F4U]

A year ago we switched all our machines to Xubuntu and never looked back. Xubuntu is the best Ubuntu-based distro. Linus Torvalds switched to Xfce too.

Yeah, may be, but his reasons were totally different and had obviously nothing to do with Unity.

[Marzata]

Yeah, may be, but his reasons were totally different and had obviously nothing to do with Unity.

Gnome 3 is no less usability crap.

[2F4U]

You need to realize that all is a matter of choice. There are a lot of people who like Gnome 3, KDE or whatever desktop. If XFCE would really be the best desktop in the world, then there would be no other desktop available. Bashing on other desktop environments is certainly inappropriate. Don't get me wrong, I like XFCE and use it myself, but I also respect that other people have different opinions.

[Marzata]

You need to realize that all is a matter of choice. There are a lot of people who like Gnome 3, KDE or whatever desktop. If XFCE would really be the best desktop in the world, then there would be no other desktop available. Bashing on other desktop environments is certainly inappropriate. Don't get me wrong, I like XFCE and use it myself, but I also respect that other people have different opinions.

Very well said. Thank you!

[3Miro]

xubuntu-desktop comes with some extras, like the Unity sound settings running in the indicator area. Things like that can make XFCE actually run slower then Gnome.

I have had great experience with just installing

sudo apt-get install xfce4
This is the basic xfce and it really performs great.

If you don't like the "handles" on for scrolling windows you can remove them with:

sudo apt-get remove overlay-scrollbar liboverlay-scrollbar3-0.2-0 liboverlay-scrollbar-0.2-0
You will have to reboot afterwards.

Check this reference:
http://www.webupd8.org/2011/10/things-to-tweak-after-installing-ubuntu.html

[troymius]

@3Miro ... I have also noticed that Xubuntu somehow boots a little bit slower that basic Ubuntu. Just a few seconds (thankfully the endless booting of my windows computer at work really helps me see the big picture every day :-D ) Did anybody observe the same or is it just my system?

[squilookle]

I have generally not found Xubuntu to be much lighter than the main Ubuntu release since about 8.04.

Xfce itself and Xubuntu are great, and I believe that XFCE can be a good lightweight desktop when it is configured in the right way, but I would only recommend Xubuntu to anyone who asks now if they wanted more options for configuring their desktop.

troymius: it's nice to see the update and that you are getting on with Xubuntu :)

[Marzata]

I have generally not found Xubuntu to be much lighter than the main Ubuntu release since about 8.04.

Xfce itself and Xubuntu are great, and I believe that XFCE can be a good lightweight desktop when it is configured in the right way, but I would only recommend Xubuntu to anyone who asks now if they wanted more options for configuring their desktop.

troymius: it's nice to see the update and that you are getting on with Xubuntu :)

Obvious opinion from a person who is still running Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. After 11.04 and especially after 11.10 Xubuntu is much lighter and faster than Ubuntu with Unity. Xubuntu is more easier to configure and to run than any other Ubuntu based distro. And it is more user friendly.

[TeamRocket1233c]

1) Xfce's basically GNOME 2 Lite.

2) If you decide to go with GNOME 3, but either hate GNOME Shell or don't have the resources for it, Fallback Mode is great, as it provides you with a desktop that has a VERY GNOME 2-like look and feel to it.

3) LXDE's a great alternative to Unity as well, it's really quick and has somewhat of a Windows Vista-like look and feel to it except for its start menu being similar to the Windows Classic start menu.

4) Openbox is just awesome, period. If you can, freaking use it! I currently use it on Crunchbang 10 and love it. :)

[Frogs Hair]

Though I use Unity and the Gnome Shell I was experimenting Gnome Classic and Dockbar X today.

[carrozza]

Xubuntu all the way, and let the party start! :popcorn:

[squilookle]

Obvious opinion from a person who is still running Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron. After 11.04 and especially after 11.10 Xubuntu is much lighter and faster than Ubuntu with Unity. Xubuntu is more easier to configure and to run than any other Ubuntu based distro. And it is more user friendly.

Actually, I'm running 11.10. You might have noticed I have less than 50 beans, and therefore cannot update my profile.

Also, genuine question, I would be interested if you could elaborate on your opinion about how Xubuntu is easier to configure and run, and more user friendly? Perhaps you can persuade me to give it another look?