xubuntu or ubuntu on a old ibm thinkpad laptop

[LLMP]

I am trying to decided which one i should use, i need openoffice that is a 100% It need to be able to run fast, as i will be using it for my first year of college, and need to be able to do a lot more things. Is able to run pretty good it is almost a 4 year old laptop and i need it for 2 more years or 2 and a half more years before i get a new one. Thank You and it will be used mostly for school like i need to make sure my Texas instrument could be connect and other things thanx.

System Specs

IBM Thinkpad laptop
Ram: 512mb
Hardrive: 40 gbs
Processor: Intel Pentium M processor 1500Mhz

[cardinals_fan]

Xubuntu, because Xfce is simply better than GNOME.

/opinion

[wrtpeeps]

Xubuntu, because Xfce is simply better than GNOME.

/opinion

I agree with this guy.

[Joeb454]

Try Xubuntu - I'd imagine it would run a little faster :)

Do note that some features available in Gnome (used by the standard Ubuntu release) are not available in XFCE4 (used by Xubuntu)

If in doubt, try both for a couple of days to see which you prefer :D

[LaRoza]

You can use either and still be able to add the packages of the other, so it doesn't matter.

[Dr Small]

Xubuntu may work, but if you have any problems, as far as speed, you could try out ArchLinux.

[LLMP]

Try Xubuntu - I'd imagine it would run a little faster :)

Do note that some features available in Gnome (used by the standard Ubuntu release) are not available in XFCE4 (used by Xubuntu)

If in doubt, try both for a couple of days to see which you prefer :D

are the features that i will miss if i use XFCE instead of GNOME?

[Joeb454]

Well you can't do the whole Click + Drag to highlight on the desktop (I haven't checked in the file manager yet).

I'm not sure, cardinals_fan may know more than I (I've not given Xubuntu a proper run yet)

[Anzan]

I have Ubuntu running on an old ThinkPad R40, same specs, and GNOME is quite snappy. I also use Fluxbox and WindowMaker on it.

[kk0sse54]

I have a computer with 256 MB RAM which runs Linux Mint Xfce Edition like a charm with compiz on :) and a lot better than Xubuntu Gutsy did for me although I haven't tried Xubuntu Hardy yet.

[Anzan]

I thought I'd add that Gutsy didn't do so well on the R40 so I was using Debian Etch and ethernet for connectivity as I couldn't get the wireless to work.

But everything works "out of the box" with 8.04.1: function keys, Belkin wireless card, suspend/resume.

[cardinals_fan]

I've found Xfce to have many more features than GNOME. It's very customizable and modular, so you make the desktop your own. Xubuntu used to be a poor Xfce distro with lots of bloat, but they've slimmed it down lately and I recommend it highly.

[Lord Xeb]

I have a computer with 256 MB RAM which runs Linux Mint Xfce Edition like a charm with compiz on :) and a lot better than Xubuntu Gutsy did for me although I haven't tried Xubuntu Hardy yet.

I agree. Linux Mint is far lighter than Gutsy. But it is gutsy >_< (or at least use the kernal). Just to let you know, Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux mint, etc... will run just fine on your IBM because I use one :D. I use an IBM ThinkPad T43 with a 1.86GHz Pentium M, 1.5GB of ram, an X300 GPU, 40GB of HD space, and the wireless works like a charm. Runs nearly 2-3 times faster than windows ever did >:D Also, I use Linux Mint Danya :D It is based on Ubuntu but runs much smoother and you can practically install it and forget it (or at least I did, other than installing things to my liking).

[lswb]

I'll also add that the OP system will have no problem with either xfce or gnome. My laptop is a 1.4Ghz Pentium M with 1GB memory and runs ubuntu just fine*, including compiz on the medium effects setting (Intel 855 graphics) My older laptop with just a 650Mhz Pentium 3 and 512MB mem also runs gnome ubuntu just fine (without compiz)

*Meaning no performance issues, not that I don't suffer from the same bugs in hardy that others are complaining about.

[LookTJ]

Xubuntu if that's the only two choices you have.

*other choices*
Arch with XFCE/Openbox installed.
Also, have fun with firefox on that cpu if you use gnome. I have pentium M 1.6GHz.

[hvac3901]

Try Xubuntu - I'd imagine it would run a little faster :)

Do note that some features available in Gnome (used by the standard Ubuntu release) are not available in XFCE4 (used by Xubuntu)

If in doubt, try both for a couple of days to see which you prefer :D

agreed, if you dont know, i have tried both, and I found the lack of features in Xubuntu frustrating after trying Ubuntu, but if you dont know the difference, i found Xubuntu to be troubleless (but featureless) and little or no difference frm Ubuntu, other than the lack of features.

another 2cents, plus the others.

[cardinals_fan]

agreed, if you dont know, i have tried both, and I found the lack of features in Xubuntu frustrating after trying Ubuntu, but if you dont know the difference, i found Xubuntu to be troubleless (but featureless) and little or no difference frm Ubuntu, other than the lack of features.

another 2cents, plus the others.
Agreed, if you don't know, I have tried both, and I found the lack of features in Ubuntu frustrating after trying Xubuntu, but if you don't know the difference, I found Ubuntu to be troubleless (but featureless) and little or no difference from Ubuntu, other than the lack of features [and speed].

Another 2¢, plus the others.

Perspective is everything.

[LaRoza]

Well you can't do the whole Click + Drag to highlight on the desktop (I haven't checked in the file manager yet).

I'm not sure, cardinals_fan may know more than I (I've not given Xubuntu a proper run yet)

I haven't used Xubuntu much, but I use Thunar as my GUI file manager (in xmonad), which is what Xfce uses.


are the features that i will miss if i use XFCE instead of GNOME?
I wouldn't say you'll be missing anything, it is just a little different. You can always install both.

[keiichidono]

For something like that and what you need I recommend Xubuntu. As everyone else has said it is different than Ubuntu in a couple of ways but it'll run faster on the laptop. Although you may want to try out Xubuntu/Ubuntu 8.10 when it comes out because they intend to have it run a lot faster which means faster on old hardware too. :D

[K.Mandla]

Intel Pentium M processor 1500Mhz
That's not old.

Depending on your tolerance for sluggishness, both Ubuntu and Xubuntu will probably work fine.

Like Dr Small said though, if you can get beyond those two, there are a thousand possibilities available, some much faster than either of the *buntus.

[nnamdi]

hello
xubuntu is ok but you could install ubuntu command line first then install package on that very light like seamonkey, xfce desktop etc that will be better i think