Which is better for my laptop?

I am planning on switching distros. I was seriously looking into Mint 9 and then for a bit Peppermint OS. However, neither of the LiveCDs of these two will boot (md5sum is correct, CD is verified correct). I get just past the splash screen and then it blocks, it is identical for all both. Ubuntu Lucid is doing the same thing. In fact not even using Virtualbox will boot. So my guess is it is the graphics card and since I have had trouble in the past with Ubuntu and my graphics card, I'm looking in other places. Plus, not sure if I like the way the original Ubuntu is going.
I need a stable system, preferably with 64 bit, LXDE/Openbox/Gnome/Xfce and relatively easy to install. I'm looking at PCLinuxOS (no clue if it is 64 bit), Vector Linux and Mandriva. I did consider Arch but since the Beginner's Guide still scares me somewhat... I'll leave that sleeping giant alone (waiting for ArchBang). Sadly I don't have time to wait for the new CrunchBang, my fav OS so far. You can see in my sig what laptop I am using this on. Charka is also on my list if I could switch away from KDE. Thoughts? Suggestions?

ETA- Went back to look at Fedora. Kind of like it as a stable system and then dual-booting later on for something slimmer with more speed. Thoughts on Fedora? I have run a VM of it before but I thought it was slow.

ETA2- LOL. I think I can narrow the list down to Fedora 13 LXDE (did some more research, sounds better) and VectorLinux Light. Now which one? Hunting down the support length right now.

 

I loved FC13 LXDE but was having repeated crashes...nothing that brought the system down...I was told on Fedora Forums it was just lack of time for LXDE so I went back to Mint because of LTS....looks like Mint's LXDE will become official and have LTS also.....

 

Lack of time meaning that patches will come up soon? And I was going to go Mint but the CD thing is ticking me off.

 

I didn't have confidence the problems would get addressed....shame really. FC Gnome...sure, but LXDE spin is a step child

 

sorry i have no idea about this

 

If Crunchbang isn't doing it for you then I recommend Fedora 13 LXDE.

 

CrunchBang is amazing but my edition is almost a year old and nothing new is coming soon, so I'm leaving it behind for a while. Since theZoid was mentioning crashes... which I can not afford, I think I will go VectorLinux Standard (comes in LXDE, Xfce and Openbox!!!) and Fedora 13 Gnome, dual-booting. Any ideas for partition schemes? I'm thinking 50 GB to VL and the rest to Fedora. Good idea? Could I make a small parition of about 10GB to share between the two for photos, etc? I think this way I will get a system with speed and flex plus one thats stable and simple.

 

Isn't crunchbang statler coming sometime soon?

 

If you don't like that Crunchbang is outdated and can't wait for version 10 then I suggest staying in the Debian based family. Switch to Ubuntu, or Xubuntu, or even Lubuntu. VectorLinux is based on Slackware and if you can't handle Arch Linux you won't have a chance with a Slackware based distribution. If you like OpenBox specifically then check this out.

 

Thanks for the list. And actually, I'm not having much of a problem with VL but I asked on the forums and several said that I could have issues with the hardware. However Fedora looks promising and the friendly folk there said all the hardware should work. Thanks for the list... but very few of those are 64 bit which I prefer. I just can not seem to boot anything based on Ubuntu right now but one can hope. Plus... hard work has never scared me. I just truly would not have the time to do Arch, Gentoo or Slackware. I like learning new stuff but sometimes I have to set a limit.

 

I set it for i386 but if you want x86_64 then you can have it.

 

Well, Slackware is a much faster install than Arch or Gentoo....that much is in it's favor.

 

I imagine installing packages on Slackware is harder than Gentoo because the package manager has no dependency resolution. Not to mention that you're out of luck if you want to use something like Gnome. Arch is the easiest one out of them.

 

I will try out Fedora sometime after I get back from the show this weekend. Calvin, thanks for the list... Unity Linux looks promising.

Arch is the easiest? Seriously? Lordy, I still have a long way to go, LOL. If I did not work 10 hours a day, and had about 3 days of good internet connection, lots of chocolate and a second laptop, I would and could probably do Arch.

 

Well, I was referring to just installing the OS itself...but Slackware is pretty simple, just tedious sometimes installing dependencies. But sure, Arch would be simpler for packages.

 

I'm trying out Unity Linux right now, the RC2 in Virtualbox and I'm really liking it. Its easy to configure and I can decide anything I want on it. Might just install it as my main system, the developers are very good for trying to make very stable core system.

 

First off, if Ubuntu and Ubuntu based distributions do not work in a VM for you, it's not your graphics card, it's something else. VMs use their own fake GPU, and all hardware, for that matter.

I wouldn't consider Mandriva, package management can be a nightmare.

I'm not sure if PCLinuxOS has a 64 bit version, but it's a great distribution, certainly worth trying.

Fedora in it's own right is one of the best distributions available, maybe not the easiest, but no doubt the best.

The Arch Beginner's Guide is great. Your first time doing arch, it works best if you assume that the Beginner's Guide is god and you are someone's well trained dog.

Unity Linux is very nice, however it's also not among the easiest of distributions, not as bad as Arch but not as easy as Fedora, PCLinuxOS, or Mint/Ubuntu.

 

I would agree with everything Thomas said above plus throw in openSUSE....it's basically the top 4 in DW that will serve you best in the long run, for the average user that is.

 

Same here. I don't have time to really 'learn' another distro especially if it is way different than Debian-based.

Out of Lucid, Mint 9 and maybe Debian Squeeze (which I already installed), which do you recommend for a Thinkpad T41?

I will have a spare partition that I'll use soon. I'll probably use it for my boot loader, too.

Is Lubuntu or Xubuntu mature yet? Or should I install the DE in normal Ubuntu?

Some guys are saying Mint 9 is snappier so should I seriously consider that? Is it sufficient for an older machine, though?

 

Ahh yes, how could I forget OpenSuSE?

Xubuntu has been mature for years, and Lubuntu, while new is already quite nice. For your thinkpad, I recommend Lucid, it's more stable than Debian Squeeze and Mint 9 is just a few themes and applications thrown on top of Ubuntu.

There is *no* way Mint is snappier while running the same configuration as Ubuntu, they are the *same* distribution.

 

But, I've read Xubuntu is still a bit resource heavy for a distro featuring xfce.

Lubuntu was said not to be mature yet but I have some familiarity with Debian Squeeze LXDE x86 ver.

I haven't used an installed ver. of Mint so I'll let others reply to that one. Last time I tried it, it was a Live CD... I think it was Mint 8...'don't recall...

Will any version of Lucid install the 1.98* bootloader (Grub 2)? Is it working well now? I haven't stayed in that loop...

 

If you are using a computer from the stone age it's probably a bit heavy.

Mint is nice, but Ubuntu feels like a cleaner system in my experience. And Lucid does install Grub 2, works just fine for me.

 

Well, I guess beggars can't be choosers... isn't that how the saying goes?

If anyone wants to donate to me, a brand new i5-driven Asus laptop with all the bells and whistles, I won't complain... I'd even install Ubuntu Lucid and install all the toys!

For now, I am using the stone age T41 while I lend out my Quad Core desktop... At least, my laptop has a Thinkwiki page that may be outdated but Linux still does okay on it. I just prefer a lighter DE for a snappier feel...

 

You might want to try Openbox if Xfce or LXDE is feeling a little heavy for you.

 

I never said Xfce or LXDE is feeling a bit heavy for the T41!

No, my concern is that Gnome or KDE (especially) will feel a bit heavy. I have tried both though in Live CD form (when I was trying out distros). I had Mepis 8 installed long ago so KDE 3.5 was installed before. It seemed okay. I just like to make the resources even lighter if I can. Being a Centrino M processor-equipped machine with an older ATI mobility card, I believe it helps. It can probably handle Gnome, say, but a ligher DE may make it seem much faster?

Anyway, I'm going to try Xubuntu, Lubuntu and Ubuntu 10.04 and see how it is...

 

You can just use gnome, and disable a few things.

 

I guess I am missing something?, you do know that the Debian repositories contain lots of Windows Managers/Desktop Environments to try, it seems a waste of effort installing all those Ubuntu variations just to try out a few different Windows Managers.

 

It results in a much cleaner system.

 

Still using Unity... Love it right now. The developers are great, very helpful and the distro is easy to use coming from #!. The stable will be here soon, I just got told. So far everything is working. *fingers crossed. Fedora 13 did not work

 

What 'things?'

I'm not really a Gnome user... My Debian DE is LXDE and before that it was KDE. When I had an *ubuntu (well, still have it on my desktop), I had Kubuntu... But, I think 4.4 might be too bloated....

Anyone agree? *snicker, snicker*.... don't want any flame wars about DE, though!!! Honest!

What Gnome stuff do I remove to get it a bit more streamlined for an older laptop?

To the other poster: the reason to install an Xubuntu or Lubuntu is because they've done the work for me... for laziness, I guess.... it's built to be resource light... the DE is already installed... it might be missing certain apps I'd normally use, though.... but, those I assume can be installed via apt-get... or similar method.

 

?????

I think it's a pain to move from one distro that is so different to another...

like Slackware/Gentoo to Ubuntu or vice versa... I guess it might be easier for Gentoo/Arch users...but, such users might get bored or annoyed at some of Ubuntu's 'differences.'

I tend to try to stick to debian-based since it's a much easier transition... Mepis, sidux, Debian, Mint, Ubuntu...etc. same bare bones with subtle changes or if they're major, I can still deal with it easily since they're close enough...

I have to rethink things when I move to my Fedora install but hey, it's based on Red Hat and they have the connection with it so.... Fedora is also a good distro on it's own and is bleeding edge so it's fun for getting a lot of bells and whistles... also, many developments in Linux progress from experiments on Fedora... for my 'fun experimentation', I use Fedora. OpenSuse might be a good one, too, but I think one 'change' is enough for me right now.

 

Speakin of openSuse, RC1 was just released....tempting for me

 

When you get down to really basic level most OS are relatively similar. The guys at Unity actually use a lot of #! stuff so that also makes it easy to use. It works for me.