Xubuntu 8.04 Review

Xubuntu
Distro: Xubuntu 8.04 x86
Tested in: LiveCD, and installation.
Computer specs:

> Manufacturer : Hewlett-Packard

> Mainboard : Unspecified KM266-8235

> Chipset : VIA P4M266/KM266 (VT8375)

> Processor : AMD Athlon XP @ 1533 MHz

> Physical Memory : 512 MB (1 x 512 DDR-SDRAM )

> Video Card : S3 Inc 86C420 ProSavage DDR

> Hard Disk : SAMSUNG (40 GB)

> CD-Rom Drive : CyberDrv CW058D CD-R/RW

> Monitor Type : Hewlett Packard MX70 - 16 inches

> Network Card : Realtek Semiconductor RT8139 (A/B/C/810x/813x/C+) Fast Ethernet Adapter

> Operating System : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition 5.01.2600 Service Pack 2 (Before Linux)

> DirectX : Version 9.0c (September 2006)

Review: I wanted to install Xubuntu on this old computer because it ran Windows XP slow, very slow. Starting Firefox 3 beta 5 took a whole minute or so just to start. It used about 100MB of Pagefile on startup which means it already ran out of RAM which sucks, and this computer has been through a lot.

I used it to learn a lot, which included getting some viruses and such, even though i loaded the NOD32 trial on there to clean it up along with many other software i felt it bogged down the system and i didn't feel safe entering personal info on it.

I also wanted it because i wanted to make it work in order for some relatives to use it instead of this computer as i do a lot of things on it and need to use it near 'round the clock.

So i do a little research and come upon Xubuntu, a light weight version of Ubuntu. I decide to ask in the Linux forums and get the same recommendation. I go and get the Xubuntu ISO and burn it with BURNCDCC and pop it into the old computer. The LiveCD runs without any problems on this old thing, and i am greeted by the xfce desktop very quickly. I was hoping with all my might that Xubuntu would be what i wanted it to be, and my wish came true.

I go the the resource monitor and look at how much it's taxing my system. I see about 20-50% being used in the live CD, with 2-7% CPU usage. Nice! I try and see how much this system could handle by opening Firefox, Pidgin, and OpenOffice Writer, something i wasn't able to do in XP without waiting 10mins. Firefox loads in a second or two, Pidgin loads up in a second or two, and OpenOffice loads up in about 5 seconds. Wow! Not only was i using barely any resources it loaded fast!

I decided to get Thomas to help me through the installation, here are some things i noted. Every time i made a change to my windows xp SP2 partition with GParted it gave me an error even though it completed the action, after about two failures i decided i would get rid of XP forever and deleted that partition in a mere second!

After that i just went and installed it via the installer icon on the desktop and that took about 10mins. After that i booted into my new Xubuntu desktop. I check the resources and it's different when installed, about 20% CPU usage with 11% RAM usage on average.

Scores:
Speed: 10/10 Excellent
Visuals: 9/10 Only because KDE looks better, but personally I'm glad i even have a GUI on this thing with such low resources.
Learning curve: 10/10 Coming from a windows power user i can truthfully say i had an easy time finding out where things were.

 

Nice review. I used to use xubuntu on an old powerbook. It ran fairly fast stock. My extremely customized ubuntu did end up running faster than it though, but most of those tweaks are the same on xubuntu.

 

I'm actually going to install either Ubuntu or Dreamlinux on the machine now, i like GNOME better and the computer can handle it just fine.

 

Is it Xubuntu 8.04?

 

Yup, i always use the latest version of whatever I'm using. I'll put that it's 8.04 in the review.

 

Nice! Want some tweaks for OO, mines really fast, could help you.
I'm testing Dream Linux in a few minutes, so I may have a Live CD Review up.

 

Calvin, I think Vista has corrupted your brain

That is a pretty good computer. Restrictiing your expectations to just having a GUI is an insult to laptops

I have installed 3d - desktop (compiz) on linux on a pentium M machine with 32 MB of video ram. It worked fine even when the CPU was scaled down to 600Mhz. And that too at SXGA+. It had more ram, but it wasnt used.
My install guide is here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=161517

One of my current laptops is 700Mhz with 256MB ram, and I use Gnome on it.
Its my work machine, only I run firefox from a server.

Your machine is quite powerful and should well suffice for ordinary apps, only place it will fail is in games I guess. Actually I would recommend adding more RAM, and it'll be a kickass machine.

 

Calvin, do install Compiz-Fusion and tell us how that went. I like Thunar a lot, and although my experience with Xubuntu was limited (used eeeXubuntu on my (duh) Eee) it was sweet while it lasted. Open Source 4 lyf!

 

Actually, i just erased Xubuntu off my computer and installed DreamLinux so i wouldn't be able to tell you how Xubuntu does with Compiz-Fusion. Although it seems DreamLinux has Compiz-Fusion so I'll let you know how that goes.

 

Wewt for Compiz.

 

Compiz is awesomeness.

 

Hmmm. I think I'll try reinstalling CCSM now and see if it takes away the random borders. I hate them.