Lightwight and easy to use distro for relative

[MadmanRB]

Lubuntu is much lightweight than xfce or mint. Also it can customized to look like XP and learning curve isn't steep. My suggestion, install lxde over XFCE and then see if he likes it.

Again I am trying to get away from buntu based distros.

[BertN45]

Okay heres the scoop, my father is working off an old laptop and is currently dual booting XP and Xubuntu 12.04, unfortunately xubuntu is not really working out for him.
I would try the latest Linux Mint on his machine but even I am having issues with it in virtualbox (12.10 really does suck no bones about it)
So I am in distribution hunt for him, I need something simple and easy to use, something fairly stable but also lightweight.
But I am taking out Ubuntu based distros out of the equation due to some major issues with Ubuntu right now with both 12.04 and 12.10 so I need something not based on the buntu family.

If you tell us why your father does not like Xubuntu, the advises would be more useful. If he dislikes it, because it is NOT Windows XP, give up all hope. I do not understand why you discard all Ubuntu distros, normally they run very good on 7 year old hardware. Besides they have 4 completely different desktops and the kernel is Linux and that is shared with all other distributions. Likewise XFCE and LXDE are shared by many distros.

The best wild guess would be Opensuse LXDE or XFCE versions, if you refuse to use the Ubuntu versions.

edit: If you give a Linux distro to a senior, you better look for a robust product, supported by a sound company, so the first two are Ubuntu (Canonical) or OpenSuse (Novell).

[gnusci]

This web site is one the best to read about distros

http://distrowatch.com/

[MadmanRB]

If you tell us why your father does not like Xubuntu, the advises would be more useful. If he dislikes it, because it is NOT Windows XP, give up all hope. I do not understand why you discard all Ubuntu distros, normally they run very good on 7 year old hardware. Besides they have 4 completely different desktops and the kernel is Linux and that is shared with all other distributions. Likewise XFCE and LXDE are shared by many distros.

The best wild guess would be Opensuse LXDE or XFCE versions, if you refuse to use the Ubuntu versions.

edit: If you give a Linux distro to a senior, you better look for a robust product, supported by a sound company, so the first two are Ubuntu (Canonical) or OpenSuse (Novell).

Yes I know linux is not XP, he gets that too.
Look as I said Ubuntu seems to be very buggy even the alleged stable version 12.04.
I have had countless stability issues with it, its not a matter how well it runs fore you its how it runs for me and my family and my experience BOTH 12.04 AND 12.10 have casued me and my family nothing but grief.
So when I suggest not giving me Ubuntu based distros I mean it.

This web site is one the best to read about distros

http://distrowatch.com/

I know about distro watch
The problem with that is that there are literally thousands of linux distros/ flavors and all that the choose from.
The purpose of this topic was to filter that down.

[BertN45]

Yes I know linux is not XP, he gets that too.
Look as I said Ubuntu seems to be very buggy even the alleged stable version 12.04.
I have had countless stability issues with it, its not a matter how well it runs fore you its how it runs for me and my family and my experience BOTH 12.04 AND 12.10 have casued me and my family nothing but grief.
So when I suggest not giving me Ubuntu based distros I mean it.

As you probably know Ubuntu is based on Debian. Linux Mint is also based on Ubuntu and there is one Mint distro based on Debian directly.

What is left is OpenSuse 12, also a very nice and stable system not based on Ubuntu and not based on Debian. It has four flavours on one DVD; GNOME3; KDE; XFCE and LXDE. You could try GNOME3, but XFCE and LXDE will surely run on an older system.

[viper250]

i know you are trying to avoid ubuntu versions but have you checked out pinguyos
there are 3 versions of it 10.04 11.04 and 12.04 (which i use)
these are very easy distros to install and configure and works very well
only issue you might have is wireless
some systems used restricted drivers easily downloaded via ethernet.
dvd playback usually worked out of the box on any machine ive installed it in.

[mamamia88]

i know you are trying to avoid ubuntu versions but have you checked out pinguyos
there are 3 versions of it 10.04 11.04 and 12.04 (which i use)
these are very easy distros to install and configure and works very well
only issue you might have is wireless
some systems used restricted drivers easily downloaded via ethernet.
dvd playback usually worked out of the box on any machine ive installed it in.

if he has problems with one ubuntu version distros based on ubuntu will probably have same problems for him.

[viper250]

all i was saying is that pinguy is a quite a bit different than most flavors of ubuntu
it reminds you more of mac os10 or osx
it uses ubuntu software repositories but it is more Debian based
i have installed this os a lot for people and they were very pleased

then they might want to try dream linux
but they might have a problem with dvd playback

[pissedoffdude]

Give Fuduntu a try. It's excellent with hardware detection and stability, and it comes with basically all the apps most people need (plus the infinality fonts pre-installed is awesome!). It uses the last version of Gnome 2.X, so at least it's stable, and it should hopefully be pretty intuitive and user friendly, as it has a dock as well.

But it might be the case that he needs an XP-like gui to feel comfortable, so I'd say give LXDE on OpenSuse a try, or just tweak Fuduntu's Gnome to look like XP.

[kazuya]

There are numerous to choose from.
If no Ubuntu-based, below are some to choose for lightweight, and ease of use.
(1) Salix and Vectorlinux (slackware-based) but easy to use and quite fast, With 1GiG RAM, you need a light Desktop environment like LXDE, XFCE4, MATE. Openbox and enlightenment are even lighter but interface may not be as comfortable.

(2) Manjaro linux (xfce4 or lxde version) - Easiest implementation of Archlinux.
This is very very fast performing - Has a gui package manager.

(3) Sabayon (Use xfce4, mate, and/or lxde) - Very newbie friendly but fast performing as well compared to Ubuntu or Debian.

(4) Crunchbang (Debian-based) - Fast, but comes with openbox, you have to install xfce4 and/or lxde after install.

(5) For super minimalistic with potential to be fully functional for all your needs, bodhi linux, mepis antiX.

I hope this helped.

Suse is more bloated and less stable than even Ubuntu or its derivatives.

In your relative's Ubuntu or xubuntu install try installing preload and/or prelink; also in startup and sessions, disable blutooth services and others you do not use. This can greatly improve performance of machine.