Is it good to replace Ubuntu 10.10 with Xubuntu 12.04 ?

[giratina3693]

Hello everyone !
Recently, Canonical has dropped support for Ubuntu 10.10 and a problem is that I'm using Ubuntu 10.10 with my laptop. Because my laptop is too weak (DELL Inspiron N4050 T561104, Intel Pentium B960 2.2GHz, 2GB RAM, Intel VGA), I'm considering installing Xubuntu 12.04 with XFCE instead of Unity, KDE or GNOME 3. I don't have a good Internet connection so I can't install Ubuntu and then xubuntu-desktop packages. And my question is : "Is Xubuntu 12.04 easy to use as Ubuntu 10.10 since I was familiar to GNOME 2 and I love it a lot ?".
For example, in Ubuntu 10.10, I could configure a panel and its applets in a way I want. Could I do this with Xubuntu 12.04 ?
l have read a lot of information on Xubuntu and now I need some advice before using it.
Can anyone help me with this ?
Sorry for my bad English.

[Vegan]

Your rig will be fine, Linux is much less demanding than Windows
:guitar:

[eanx]

How about replacing edubuntu 10.04 with xubuntu 12.04 on an even older desktop running and amd xp2200 and 1 gig ram?

Also can I install edubuntu packages on xubuntu?

[3Miro]

Both XFCE and LXDE will work well on your system, I would definitely go for xubuntu.

XFCE is less resource demanding, however, this does not come at the cost of features. I am using XFCE on a SandyBridge-E CPU with 32GB of RAM.

[black veils]

is Xubuntu 12.04 easy to use as Ubuntu 10.10 since I was familiar to GNOME 2 and I love it a lot ?

yes



in Ubuntu 10.10, I could configure a panel and its applets in a way I want. Could I do this with Xubuntu 12.04 ?

yes. i recommend installing
xfce4-goodies


any other questions about the xfce desktop, feel free to PM me.

[black veils]

XFCE is less resource demanding, however, this does not come at the cost of features. I am using XFCE on a SandyBridge-E CPU with 32GB of RAM.


this is true! and lol at the ram! i have 4GB, which is also unnecessary for Xubuntu.

[blackbird34]

Xubuntu runs nicely, i have a laptop with the same specs (Intel Celeron 900, which ain't fast, with 2GB RAM). Things like Synapse (see signature link) can add Unity-like functionality, the only limit to Xfce customization is your curiosity and imagination :D

[TheGuyWithTheFace]

I found these videos useful. He also does reviews of some other distros, but that's a bit off topic...

Xubuntu review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BRIgT8YffDY

Lubuntu review:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yanEoPznXAc

[KegHead]

Hi 3Miro!

32 gb ram?

KegHead

[3Miro]

I know it is ridiculous and in 90+ percent of the time I will not use the full 32GB of RAM, but I do have applications that can utilize all of it.

Besides, Linux does great job caching the HDD, if you don't reboot your machine too often, lots of RAM is better than SSD.

[mbuell]

I just got through installing 12.04 xubuntu on a Thinkpad T60 refurbished laptop for my sister. A gift for her birthday - she doesn't have a computer. The xfce works marvelously well. And, xubuntu has done some very fine customizing. I am not so keen on the Mac-type toolbar at the bottom, but I know my sister will use it! And, I have to admit, I might get used to it also. It is like a fancy quick launch.

Until this, I have not used xfce since I played with Vector Linux about 4 years ago. It was an excellent desktop then, but I was upset because they had killed the Alacarte menu editor. I would say it has improved since then. As a matter of fact, I decided to install it on my desktop, running 10.04 LTS with Gnome 2 just to see how it would do. My first half hour and I am floored. It isn't doing the compiz eyecandy - but it IS assigning two different pictures to my two monitors! Too Cool! And, it is so FAST! Wow!

I do not want to go to Unity or Gnome 3. Too many headaches for now. I know they are aiming for the tablet and phone markets - not desktops. Oh well. I'm happy, I can stick with xfce.

[giratina3693]

Thanks everyone a lot ! A long time ago, I read some information said that Xubuntu was hard to configure by GUI, which makes me a little nervous. Now, I have confidence to use it.
@black veils : does Xubuntu have tools that work the same as Ubuntu Tweak in Ubuntu ?

[black veils]

does Xubuntu have tools that work the same as Ubuntu Tweak in Ubuntu ?

you are best using a live cd/usb in try mode to see the settings available.

[NZjelle]

Yes, that is good. I have done exactly the same. XFCE is very customisable and easy to work with.

I am so old fashioned that I even managed to make it look mostly like my Gnome 2 desktop which I am familiar with and see no reason to abandon at all. This means customising the panels so that:
top panel gets a bit larger size
add launcher for file manager to top panel
add any other launchers you like to top panel
remove the auto hide from bottom panel
remove all launchers from bottom panel
delete workspaces from top panel and add to bottom panel
delete windows buttons from top panel and add to bottom panel

You can probably think of other things you want to try.
Anyway, it works very well and you can try things out without being forced to learn new Unity or Gnome Shell paradigms.

[wkrekik]

Show this desktop screenshot, it's Xfce !
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/440/xfcepanel.png

[Peripheral Visionary]

XFCE is very customisable and easy to work with. I am so old fashioned that I even managed to make it look mostly like my Gnome 2 desktop which I am familiar with and see no reason to abandon at all. This means customising the panels.

The attached screenshot is my latest Xfce adaptation. The bottom panel has launchers for my most-used apps (Faenza icons!). I used to have a top panel, invisible until I "mouse over it" for minimized applications. But I've removed the top panel now that I discovered you can find and restore minimized applications with a middle-click on the desktop! I like the Xfce panel more than a dock, since I can make it transparent and have my little applets like weather and clock. This desktop computer is 8 years old! But it runs faster on my minimalized Xubuntu than it did when it was brand new (running Windows XP)!

[SushiR]

A good looking xfce desktop with a nice setup of software is HERE: http://voyager.legtux.org/

[afixane]

I love XFCE, very costumizable like KDE while have GNOME 2 look :D

Here the screenshot of my desktop

[black veils]

this is the layout i have

[3Miro]

Check out my screenshot on post 10, I am suing an interface that is pretty close to the classic Gnome 2. All of that is doable with the default settings utilities (Apps -> Settings -> Settings Manager).

[giratina3693]

Thanks. I'll wait until Xubuntu 12.04.1 is releashed and begin using it.

[Gaygerbil]

I found that about 70-80% of the stuff you can do in GNOME you can also do in XFCE.

And besides Ubuntu 12.04 isn't even really GNOME anymore, it's Unity and that's a whole bunch of nonsense if you ask me.

[Kronalias]

Agreed. It seems to me that Canonical have completely lost the plot with Unity.

An operating system should provide:
(a) an abstraction layer from the hardware to software that wishes to communicate with the hardware
and
(b) an environment to launch programs, let then run in accordance with (a) above, and stop them when necessary.

End of story. Anything else is just gloss.

That's what XFCE does, and very well too.