Hello Ubuntu forums!
I've been using Windows 98 in my childhood when I got my first PC, all the way up to Windows 10, I used every Windows that came out (even Vista, and in my honest opinion it wasn't THAT bad). For 16 years, I had lots of difficulties switching to Linux. I tried installing Linux system countless times before, but I'd switch back to Windows the next day because I was just so used to Windows environment...
[ Specs ]
Intel<3 Celeron M530 1.7GHz
2GB Ram
120 GB HDD
1336x768 ViewSonic Monitor
I had this laptop lying around in my home, and I'm using it to replace my dead PC (to think that a 150 euro power supply would backfire on me, while a 20 euro one worked flawlessly for 5 years...). I'm done with PCs, I'm switching to laptops now. I will replace this laptop in a year or so, since I'm starting software engineering colleague this year, but it should get the job done in the meantime.
A friend of mine who is a hardcore Windows junkie insisted he install me a Windows XP he had on a CD lying around. Using Windows XP after all these years felt good and nostalgic, but man, I had the hardest time finding applications that were written for XP nowadays. Took me 2 days to get the drivers, too... Only thing Windows XP excels at is the boot time.
Next thing I tried, was Ubuntu. I did a minimal install instead of standard, but still the gnome environment is kinda too demanding for this grandpa laptop, felt a little laggy. Then I found out about different flavors, and immediately installed Lubuntu. It's snappy. It's dead simple, and on top of that brings back the Windows 98 days! But I really don't like LXde... LXqt looks marginally better imo, but I had little luck trying to install it on my Lubuntu system. Switching to Xubuntu 2 months later, and I'm kind of happy. XFce actually looks more "today", but Xubuntu has too much bloatware.... All the apps I need are a lite pad, calculator, chrome and atom to write my javascript. Kind of makes me sad that Xubuntu doesn't come with minimal install like Ubuntu does (and Lubuntu's minimal install doesn't even seem to change anything?). If it did, I would never change it!
Also tried different flavors of Manjaro, and Mint but I like Ubuntu the most, so I'll stick with it. I also barely managed to install Arch, but having little experience I just got the LXqt desktop running, and got stuck there.
While I'm happy with the XFce, I still feel it's a big laggy on this machine. LXde runs perfect, so I bet LXqt will too. I don't want to wait for Lubuntu to release the new OS with LXqt. What do you guys recommend? I need a bare-bones system, preferably with LXqt desktop (or maybe some other desktop environment I don't know of yet). I'm still a newb when it comes to Linux. But I love Linux so far. Has a steep learning curve but is actually easier to manage than Windows afterwards, imo.
I was thinking of getting a Macbook as my new laptop, just so I get to try all the systems out there to see what fits best for me, but after these 3 months of using Linux I think I've found my main OS for years to come! I'm glad I poked my nose a little deeper into it, definitely worth it!
Thanks!
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