[AnywhereButHome]

My uncle asked me to take a look at his computer because it was asking for a Flash update. When I went and tried to update it, it wouldn't. Turns out it was Ubuntu Jaunty and went out of support in 2010... which means I haven't been to fix it since before then! Who says Linux isn't ready for the desktop?

Anyway, it's a pretty low spec machine - eMachines with integrated Intel graphics, DDR 1 memory, Celeron but still feels perfectly sprightly to use.

I'm looking for something fairly lightweight either running GNOME 2 or MATE. I put Debian stable on there as a replacement but although it installs fine, there is loads of randomness with GNOME, like locking up and just nothing loading but the top and bottom bars.

So I don't need anything totally lightweight like Puppy or DSL but it's not going to run Unity either. I can't get on with LXDE or XFCE. Any recommendations please? I'd just try them but my broadband is flaky as hell, I kept having to reboot the router doing a Debian net install (maybe why it doesn't work properly?)

Cheers.

[1saintly]

Originally Posted by AnywhereButHome

I can't get on with LXDE or XFCE. Any recommendations please? I'd just try them but my broadband is flaky as hell, I kept having to reboot the router doing a Debian net install (maybe why it doesn't work properly?)

Cheers.

But its not for you its for youre uncle!
So let him try XFCE, its a great OS

Also trying to load a new OS with a iffy broadband is going to give you a headache.

Originally Posted by AnywhereButHome

I'm looking for something fairly lightweight either running GNOME 2 or MATE. I put Debian stable on there as a replacement but although it installs fine, there is loads of randomness with GNOME, like locking up and just nothing loading but the top and bottom bars.



Cheers.

The main one for Mate is
http://www.linuxmint.com/release.php?id=18
its a LTS with support until 2017

[darkknight77]

For a low end system, I'd highly recommend Puppy Linux Slacko, very lightweight and fast and mostly runs in RAM so you get a very speedy system:

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Puppy53

[mred2000]

Originally Posted by AnywhereButHome

...So I don't need anything totally lightweight like Puppy...

Originally Posted by darkknight77

For a low end system, I'd highly recommend Puppy Linux Slacko...

[henm2]

For a lightweight distro but more comprehensive than Puppy I would recommend either Lubuntu or Peppermint 3

[Rodney McKay]

Originally Posted by darkknight77

For a low end system, I'd highly recommend Puppy Linux Slacko, very lightweight and fast and mostly runs in RAM so you get a very speedy system:

http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Puppy53

Lubuntu is a nice lightweight distro of Ubuntu

[DJGM]

Linux Mint with the MATE desktop all the way IMO.

[Kal_El]

On a low spec I would definitely recommend Bodhi Linux. It's really fast and gorgeous, but there is one proviso. It can feel a little foreign if you're used to more "traditional" desktops. However, to me it gives so much that it's worth learning your way around it. I'm happy enough with it on my Eee that I'm gonna put it on my mum's old Sempron desktop too. My current favourite distro for sure.