Change desktop environment? Or maybe distro?

[afilonov]

I received Meerkat Ion from System76. First impressions.

Ubuntu 11.10

1. All devices are supported by stock drivers. Good.

2. Unity sucks big time. Interface is ugly, not configurable, very sloooooooooow.

3. I miss Evolution. I mean, you can install Evolution 3, but it doesn't import data from 2.28. Import into Thunderbird is troublesome to say the least.

4. Installed gnome-shell. Much better than Unity, faster, especially if you remove all 3D effects (i.e. compiz). But there aren't enough themes. Also, it's less configurable than gnome 2.

5. Full screen flash is slow. Tried all tricks, it still doesn't use hardware acceleration.

My decision is probably to use Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit.

Ubuntu 10.04

Installed without a hitch. Graphic speed is decent, all Gnome 2 bells and whistles. Detected problems so far

1. Microphone doesn't work. Looking into it. Maybe need

2. Flash is even slower than in 11.10, even in window mode. I will try it with compiz off.

Everything else is working, including wireless.

Hardware

Fan is noisy, replaced it with a silent one from Microcenter. There is still some noise from HD, probably unavoidable with this design.

Overall decent machine, I'm probably keeping it. Even if I can't resolve flash problems, I have another machine on which flash is working very good (System76 Gazelle black, made in 2006, flash is working without hardware acceleration, no problem even in full screen mode).

Question to all interested: where to go from 10.04? I usually hold to LTS version, not interested in frequent upgrades. But with new LTS version (probably 12.04?) I have a big problem: I'm not going to use Unity. So what? KDE? Gnome-shell is not supported by Ubuntu, how reliable is it? Maybe xfce?

[3Miro]

On a weak machine like that I would try Xubuntu or Lubuntu. KDE may or may not work right, it is usually demanding.

Flash sux. Under Linux flash sux double. Flash is too CPU demanding and on weaker CPU it sux triple. There is very little that can be done about it. Try flash without compiz (i.e. Unity 2D or Gnome-fallback).

Gnome-shell is supported on Ubuntu, it is just not the default one.

[Frogs Hair]

Try one of the other Ubuntu flavors , such as Kubuntu , Xubuntu , or Lubuntu . I have not experienced any of the problems you have reported and I am using Unity 3D and the Gnome Shell . In the future be sure of what you're installing before proceeding , testing with the live cd is a good idea if you are not certain .

[inobe]

i think your having optimization problems, now as for fugly desktops, you will get more "kustomization" with kubuntu!

google some images of kubuntu to see.

btw, when kubuntu is in there, install the proprietary NVIDIA DRIVER

that'll fix the choppy, lagging, desktop, and you can enjoy FASTER, SMOOTHER desktop affects and flash playback.

[afilonov]

i think your having optimization problems, now as for fugly desktops, you will get more "kustomization" with kubuntu!

google some images of kubuntu to see.

btw, when kubuntu is in there, install the proprietary NVIDIA DRIVER

that'll fix the choppy, lagging, desktop, and you can enjoy FASTER, SMOOTHER desktop affects and flash playback.

Nvidia driver is installed. On 11.10 by default (was installed by System 76), on 10.04 I installed it myself. Unity sucks anyway.

[inobe]

go ahead and upgrade the driver to version 290 from x-swat ppa.

be sure to use the filter to obtain the correct ppa.

https://launchpad.net/~ubuntu-x-swat/+archive/x-updates

[oldtimer7777]

What I did was install 11.04 and switch to the Classic Ubuntu desktop environment instead of Unity like this:

https://debianhelp.wordpress.com/2011/07/05/to-do-list-after-installing-ubuntu-11-04-aka-natty-narwhal/

You will probably have better driver support lacking in 10.04 too.


I received Meerkat Ion from System76. First impressions.

Ubuntu 11.10

1. All devices are supported by stock drivers. Good.

2. Unity sucks big time. Interface is ugly, not configurable, very sloooooooooow.

3. I miss Evolution. I mean, you can install Evolution 3, but it doesn't import data from 2.28. Import into Thunderbird is troublesome to say the least.

4. Installed gnome-shell. Much better than Unity, faster, especially if you remove all 3D effects (i.e. compiz). But there aren't enough themes. Also, it's less configurable than gnome 2.

5. Full screen flash is slow. Tried all tricks, it still doesn't use hardware acceleration.

My decision is probably to use Ubuntu 10.04 64 bit.

Ubuntu 10.04

Installed without a hitch. Graphic speed is decent, all Gnome 2 bells and whistles. Detected problems so far

1. Microphone doesn't work. Looking into it. Maybe need

2. Flash is even slower than in 11.10, even in window mode. I will try it with compiz off.

Everything else is working, including wireless.

Hardware

Fan is noisy, replaced it with a silent one from Microcenter. There is still some noise from HD, probably unavoidable with this design.

Overall decent machine, I'm probably keeping it. Even if I can't resolve flash problems, I have another machine on which flash is working very good (System76 Gazelle black, made in 2006, flash is working without hardware acceleration, no problem even in full screen mode).

Question to all interested: where to go from 10.04? I usually hold to LTS version, not interested in frequent upgrades. But with new LTS version (probably 12.04?) I have a big problem: I'm not going to use Unity. So what? KDE? Gnome-shell is not supported by Ubuntu, how reliable is it? Maybe xfce?

[claracc]

I recommend to try lubuntu 11.04 or lubuntu 11.10 for such a low specs machine. You can try it from live CD without installing.

Lubuntu is quick, stable, simple and reliable.

The only problem I could think about is the wireless detection , but you can give a try.

[BC59]

But in Linux you have the easiest and most decent solution. Download all the flavors and versions you think you like and make bootable USBs. Try them in your machine and when you are satisfied with one, just install it.

[wkrekik]

If you are familiar with Gnome 2, then try xfce (xubuntu) : it's the nearest DE to gnome2 (and faster than Unity and even Gnome2)

[nonamedotc]

I have personally preferred Xubuntu in older machines. They seem to work quite well.

AS for Gnome-shell on ubuntu, in the limited time I have used, I have not had any problems. I do not about the support though!

[afilonov]

Well, I'm sticking with 10.04 so far, it's final.

Microphone is working, you need to switch it manually in 10.04 (automatic switch is a nice touch in 11.10).

Flash is working better after unchecking "Use hardware acceleration" checkbox. Why this box exists at all and what is it really doing is a mystery. Flash doesn't use hardware acceleration whatever I tried.