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I used to use Ubuntu Hardy on my old laptop. But haven't used it since then. My desktop is really old. It is Dell with Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.66 GHz with 1.00gb Ram, 140gb hard-drive. Since Microsoft isn't supporting Windows XP anymore, which Ubuntu version can I use with these computer specs. Also, I need to be able to use some type of media library that is friendly with a iPod so I can sync my mom's playlists and so on.

Arjun Patel
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I'm using Ubuntu on a similar laptop without any problems. I think you should give it a shot - if it turns out that for some reason it's not working properly/snappy, you can install another desktop environment alongside the one currently installed (which is Unity by default for Ubuntu).

Package names are postfixed with -desktop (e.g. xubuntu-desktop or kubuntu-desktop). As for LXDE (Lubuntu), there is lxde package as well. You'd install them like normal packages (using sudo apt-get [package name]). After that you can choose which one you want to use at login screen. Keep in mind that LXDE should be the most lightweight, followed by XFCE (Xubuntu).

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As a side note *ubuntus aren't lower versions, they just ship with different desktop environment and utilities.

Luke
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  • I would also suggest that you try a Live DVD/USB first, to make sure everything works correctly, and to start with Ubuntu 14.04; If Ubuntu 14.04 doesn't work, try Ubuntu 12.04. – saiarcot895 Jul 22 '14 at 20:30
  • You have a point. But also keep in mind Live version will always run slower, because it keeps everything in memory, and needs to load data from CD, which can create an illusion of too slow CPU, because optical drive is usually slow. 1GB of RAM would just emphasize that effect. – Luke Jul 22 '14 at 21:02
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I don't know, personally I've found XFCE to be the quickest and fastest on pentium based computers built for XP. Amazingly Ubuntu studio runs lightning fast and has all kinds of audio applications and photo editing software pre-installed. Ubuntustudio uses XFCE and the website is here. http://ubuntustudio.org/ I suggest at least checking it out. . You can download the live iso of each version and test each one out without installing to see wich one runs best and which one best fits your tastes.

mchid
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  • So XFCE or ubuntustudio be my best bet than, do you know how long XFCE is supported for? – Arjun Patel Jul 22 '14 at 23:36
  • @ArjunPatel All ubuntu "flavors" are supported for 3 years including Ubuntustudio, Xubuntu (XFCE), and Lubuntu (LXDE) as well. – mchid Jul 23 '14 at 08:20
  • @ArjunPatel I will admit I was impressed with Lubuntu when I first used it (version 13.04) but have only used 14.04 Lubuntu in VirtualBox. So I would suggest checking out both live versions to see which one you prefer. – mchid Jul 23 '14 at 08:22
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You could run Xubuntu or Lubuntu on that with ease. Unity might not play nice as something that old likely does not have a good enough graphics card, forcing all rendering to the CPU. Although you could probably use KDE with a bare minimum of effects.

Aaron
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sbergeron
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