Ubuntu vs xubuntu vs kubuntu

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rocky_1

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I have a pentium 4 2.4ghz 1gb ddr and a 16gb ssd
I understand xubuntu is good for old pc's and ubuntu is for middle class and kubuntu for higher performance. What would be better for my comp.
it runs really fast but not very aesthetically pleasing on xubuntu. pretty good looking and decent performance on gnome haven't tried kubuntu what do you think is best?

and thanks in advance
 
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Pyroflea

Pyroflea

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Ubuntu - Gnome Desktop Environment. Most resource-heavy version of the *buntu's. Lots of desktop effects.

Kubuntu - KDE Desktop Environment. Middle-range version. Has some snazzy features, but will use less RAM than Gnome.

Xubuntu - XFCE Desktop Environment. Very little RAM usage, meant mostly for older systems lacking resources.

With your particular system, you should be able to run Ubuntu just fine, just take it easy on the desktop effects. In my Ubuntu VM (Only have my laptop right now, in the midst of a move), it only uses around 200MB of RAM with no desktop effects, and a couple programs running. My desktop running all of the effects uses just under 1GB with some programs running.
 
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randomizer

randomizer

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Lubuntu will fly but LXDE is designed for speed not eye candy. Xubuntu should run great too. The others will both run fine but if you can dig up some more RAM it would be beneficial. You could always download them all and try them. You can install each of them in around 15-20 minutes on a reasonably slow machine.

Remember that for all of them (except perhaps Lubuntu, I don't know what LXDE can do) you can turn up the eye candy with added themes and with the addition of proprietary video drivers you can enable fancy compositing effects as well.
 
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audiovoodoo

audiovoodoo

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I think the thing to remember with *buntu is that the main development efforts go into the Gnome version. You will always get your toys first and find the best support on the forums for the main focus of the organisation.

Also don't forget that you can install KDE in addition to Gnome on a default Ubuntu install, then it's just a case of switching window manager at logon, best of both worlds in my eyes.

The netbook remix version is interesting but not without issues as soon as you install non standard packages.
 
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randomizer

randomizer

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The netbook remix works fine for me. I don't care for the bugs and half-baked features in Ubuntu and the buck-passing of the developers who work on it but I really don't want to mess around with a distro to make it work on my laptop. So far I haven't had to, with the exception of Wireless. After 3 hours of trying I couldn't connect to my University's WPA-Enterprise network. WPA-PSK is fine but trying to get multiple public key certificates to work with the NetworkManager was painful. I ended up screwing directly with wpa_supplicant.conf but still couldn't get it connected :(
 
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jdh440

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I've been using ubuntu and it doesn't use that much memory I'm only at around 750mb of ram out of 2gb. I'm doing a little multi-tasking I have rhythmbox,firefox,chat and broadcast running.
xubuntu is twice faster than kubuntu if you ask me.
from all the distros I've tried kde ones are just slow and take up alot of resources.
one thing i just noticed is rhythmbox is using 173mb thats over 2x more than my firefox is using!

 
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blackhawk1928

blackhawk1928

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Can't you install Ubuntu, then install KDE and other desktop managers and choose between them on log in?
I have decent machine, but I prefer gnome on all my distro's, its simple and easy to use. KDE is confusing and looks way to souped up like windows 7 with the transparent themes and all that crap. I use linux for the simplicity and performance, if I want eye candy, I just use my windows 7...And whoever said that gnome uses more ram then KDE?...i never knew that, I always thought KDE would suck more resources. In my virtual machines, gnome has much better performance then KDE for some reason.
 
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C

Canuck1

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You should ask yourself why the wifi didn't work... it could be a minor fix.

Ubuntu probably sticks more packages and repositories that are available. If you need non-free firmware for the wifi chip, maybe the Ubuntu you chose has those repos already available while you have to add them for the other distros? It sounds strange that the other *buntu families would have a different setup or configuration.

I personally recommend Mint 9 LXDE to try first before the Ubuntus and even better, Debian Squeeze with LXDE or XFCE. You would probably have to manually configure the wifi part anyway but that shouldn't be a deal breaker.
 
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NoNameWill

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What wifi brand is it? My son's wifi stick quit working with the last kernel update and I couldn't get the ath9k_htc driver to reinstall. I had his pc running xubuntu.
I had to reinstall XP so he could play his Club Penguin game online. Which was a adventure in itself. The OEM reinstall starts out at sp1 and no task bar. Which is the easy fix with a script I found online. It was getting to sp3 that is the trick.
 
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A

Aadil152

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Download Win XP it is better than all linux and mac beacause it support many programs than linux or mac and very easy to use fast stable and it have many features it is very similar in the world and linux , mac is not iam running it after linux it is best i have 512 mb ram 2.50 ghz processor :wahoo:
 
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