Best Linux distribution for my AO532h netbook?

It sounds more like a graphics card capabilities problem in linux (probably the driver for the intel) have you tried in 2d mode? at the login change the mode, also installing lxed in top of ubuntu could be a solution before you reinstall.

Yup, I've tried 2D mode but even Windows 7's UI is much more fluid and lag free compared to that of Ubuntu.  

Be sure that your system is using the correct driver (intel in your case if I am not mistaken) and not the generic vesa, (detailed info is in the Ubuntu documentation)
For a lighter distro I would recommend Arch, is quite straight forward and you can install minimal required software for a light system like LXED or XFCE, although you would have to "sacrifice" eye-candy for performance, Bear in mind that if the case is a graphic driver incompatibility, it would be difficult to find the "correct" distro since more of them use the same drivers and sometimes same versions.
There is also Debian, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Puppy, (I have use these before and they were good), Crunchbang is a very popular one, among others in the lightweight level.

Edit: forgot to mention Ubuntu Netbook Edition and Leeenux.

Ubuntu 11.xx is garbage if you ask me. There's been some serious bugs/driver issues, and Unity just disgusts me. Unity is quite possibly your problem, along with weak graphics.

I think if you're newish to Linux, Arch would be absolute suicide.

Try a lighter-weight distribution. Anything with a lightweight desktop environment such as LXDE, XFCE, or even probably Gnome2 will do. As for the distribution itself, try:

Debian
Puppy
Knoppix
antiX
Crunchbang

Any of these should suit your needs, and any desktop environment is capable of looking great if you're willing to do some tweaking. I'm quite a fan of LXDE personally.

Good luck.

Thanks for the input people, and I have to agree with Pyroflea that the Unity UI is a complete garbage. I will try out the rest of the distributions as mentioned.

Ubuntu no more!

Stick with Ubuntu but use one of the other window managers.
X window itself will run faster than Windows 7. It's unity thats taking up all the resources.

or go fedora

Mind if I ask why you made this suggestion?

Haha, what makes you think GNOME 3 is much better in terms of bloat than Unity?

(Writing this because if you tell someone to install Fedora, they almost will invaribly install the default GNOME 3 version)

On the other hand if he was to install XFCE/LXDE Fedora...

I'm still open to suggestions, haha. Anyways, I am going to test the distributions on VirtualBox first.  

On low resources Fedora kicks back to lower usage mode. Sort of a Gnome 3 light. I run Fedora 15 on a VM in the reduced mode with no problems whatsoever.

Besides the window manager you use is really a separate issue from which distribution you use.

http://www.renewablepcs.com/about-linux/kde-gnome-or-xf...

Best answer selected by kasazn.

This topic has been closed by Amdfangirl