Minimum requirements for Ubuntu?

Okay, I'm new to Linux. I just got the iso for Ubuntu and burned it to a CD and ran it. However, it's so slooow. I heard that Linux would be slower than Windows, but it's much slower than I expected. I could open GAIM but when I tried to open Open Office, the logo thing loaded but I never got to the actual program opening. I stared at the screen for a good 5 minutes. Same thing happened when I tried to open firefox. It never loaded. I'm wondering if there is a minimum requirement for running Ubuntu because my computer is pretty bad (1 GHZ AMD Athlon Processor, 272 MB memory desktop. Sad, I know). Also, if I'm doing anything wrong, please let me know.

 

Are you running the live-cd version or did you actually install it? The live-cd version is really just meant for you to play around with it. It'll be VERY slow. It should be several times faster once you have installed, though. I'd think that it should be quite usable even with a system several years out of date like yours. The major upgrade I'd consider would be adding more RAM.

Once the full version is installed, you can speed things up by using different window managers or by using different office suites (koffice, for example, should be much faster than oo).

 

Yeah, the live-CD version is slow.
I had 1GHz Athlon + 192 MB RAM and I ran Ubuntu 5.10 on it fine.
You can also try Xubuntu on it.

 

I run Ubuntu 6.06 on a Compaq Armada M700. It has a PIII 700MHZ, 192MB ram, and it runs it perfectly.

 

Alright, so I should go with the full install. A concern of mine is space. I only have a 4GB hard drive and only have 1.01 gigs free. Will Ubuntu fit on that?

 

I think you needed 1.2GB to install 5.04, but there was a workaround for installing on something like 800MB space by not caching packages on the hard drive. It made for a slower install, but you didn't need the buffer space. I imagine it's about the same for later versions.

You might be better off looking at something like Vector, but it's not for your average absolute new Linux user. But if you're capable of reading documentation and have a bit of patience for mistakes you may make, it's a great option for a slower machine.

I have an 800Mhz P3 with a GB of memory and have tested quite a few distributions on this machine, and a few on faster builds I've designed. I'd suggest about 1.2Ghz and 512MB or memory for Ubuntu. But you can cut down on that a bit if you have discrete graphics. In contrast, Vector can be configured to run comfortably on a 400mhz machine with 128MB of memory, and a great deal of steps in between.

 

Hey, thanks for the response. I'll look into Vector. I'll also have to find out what the difference is between all the different versions. ^^;;

 

Also, do you know if I can install vector with the live CD? I found where to download the live CD and on Ubuntu when u boot it up theres an icon on the desktop that says "Install" so I know it's esy to install Ubuntu, but I haven't been able to download Vector yet. Just wondering if it's as easy to get my computer to dual boot it and Windows 2k.

 

I'm not sure, I've only ever installed Vector with the install CD. The live CD is a new thing for them.

 

Got Vector up and running. Glad to say I'm typing this while running it, which means Firefox laoded! There is an option to install from the live CD, but I need to know if 1gb is enough for it.

 

There's one way to find out for sure, try it out.

 

Well, just clicked it and aparently I need to partition my HD myself (I thought it would do it for me!). More reading I guess...