Dell Latitude D610, what Ubuntu version is best?

[OldTymeToys]

I'm new to Linux, but have always been curious- now is my chance! My office recently upgraded from Windows XP and I've grabbed a few older PCs and a laptop to play with. The laptop is an old Dell Latitude D610 with approx. 2 GB of RAM and a Pentium M processor (1.6 GHz). So, without much thought, I installed the newest version of Ubuntu and it's running really, really slow... to be expected, I suppose. I read a thread or two here from a few years ago about a good Ubuntu version for this computer being 11.04, etc. So, now in 2014, what version would you guys recommend for this? Should I try and work with the newest version?



Thanks in advance for all of your help, I'm sure I'll have plenty more questions once I get rolling with Ubuntu!

[papibe]

Hi OldTymeToys.

I'd recommend Xubuntu (http://xubuntu.org/). I have a P4 laptop running Xubuntu with pretty good performance. If you have a budget, it may be get even faster if you invest on an SSD.

In any case, Xubuntu uses less resources than vanilla Ubuntu (specially graphic animations).

Let us know how that works.
Regards.

[OldTymeToys]

Hi OldTymeToys.

I'd recommend Xubuntu (http://xubuntu.org/). I have a P4 laptop running Xubuntu with pretty good performance. If you have a budget, it may be get even faster if you invest on an SSD.

In any case, Xubuntu uses less resources than vanilla Ubuntu (specially graphic animations).

Let us know how that works.
Regards.

Thanks for the quick reply and suggestion! So, should I install the current version of Xubuntu, 14.04, on it?

[papibe]

Yes. The latest version would be perfect ;)

Regards

[Gilad_Pellaeon]

Yeah xubuntu's pretty good I find even on older machines like mine with dual core and 1 gig ram. Certainly a lot faster then Ubuntu with Unity. :)

[OldTymeToys]

Awesome, thanks! I'll try it and report back... With questions, I'm sure. :D

[OldTymeToys]

OK guys, I got Xubuntu installed and running... much faster than Ubuntu on this old thing!

Im running into a problem and being a newb, I'm having a tough time sorting it out. I'm having trouble getting my wireless card to work. I've read a bunch of threads on here regarding the Broadcom controllers, and that's what I've got. I'm just not sure the proper steps to take so I don't mess it up. Ndiswrapper, drivers, etc.- it's a bit over my head ATM. Hopefully, someone can walk me through this. Let me know if I need to start a new thread instead of asking this question here. Thanks!

[OldTymeToys]

Starting new thread in proper sub forum...