Fast Linux distro for newbie?

Question

I've recently switched over from WIndows (woohoo!) to Linux, and I'm running Mint 13 right now, but I've run into a few speedbumps... and I think I'm ready to try another distro or two.

I'm pretty tech-savvy, but I'm still a noob. I need something that's easy to install, first and foremost. I'm running on a fairly slow laptop, so I need it to be resource-efficient. I have 2gb of 333 MHz ram and a 1.6 GHz 64-bit dual-core Intel processor. Plus it's a few years old, so there's some grime build-up on the inside which slows it down due to heat.

What would you suggest? I'd prefer to have a few options, 5 or so, and a brief pros-and-cons description. But any help is appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

One way to speed things up is to use a lighter desktop environment, like LXDE. Any of the top distros (including mint) with this d.e. will be speedier than their gnome or kde equivalents.

There are a number of distros out there designed for speed and built for such from the ground up.

Problems with these can be a lack of an upgrade path or limited amount of software in the repo, even though they perform admirably. So there are always trade-offs.

Answer 2

All the above mentioned distros are good ones. I just want to add the best place for info on Linux Distributions is distrowatch.com. It gives a description, list of software, and screen shots.



Here is a list of distros for old computers:

http://distrowatch.com/search.php?category=Old+Computers



My opinion for the easiest Linux distro would be PCLinuxOS.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=pclinuxos



The desktop environment would have more of an effect on performance then anything else. Stay away from KDE, it is pretty, but resource intensive. Try LXDE. This seems to be the best looking, easier to use, and not resource intensive.

http://lxde.org/lxde_desktop

Answer 3

I would go with Ubuntu, CentOS, and OpenSUSE. They are all geared at enterprise networks, and so offer you learning experiences that you can put on your resume.



@Kevin: Solaris is not Linux. It is related though, more of a cousin. Solaris isn't really for "n00bs" but for high performance servers running the SPARC processing architecture.

Answer 4

Ubuntu, fedora, solaris, debian, puppy linux, or maybe open suse (opensuse lets you create a linux os with your heeds and hardware) ubuntu-one of the well known linux distros in the world... fedora-fully featured linux distro that is also resource efficent... solaris-havnt really fooled arround with this too much yet but i hear its ok,not too good not too bad (heard its really good for noobs)... debian-the base of ubuntu, plain simple linux... puppylinux-minimalistic linux distro designed for older computers (even runs on one of my old win 95 towers smoothly)... opensuse/susestudio (suse studio is for build it yourself with your hardware specs and personal prefs)





Google them for their sites.

Answer 5

i'm trying bodhi at mo. its a small initial install 500 meg



http://lifehacker.com/5904069/five-best-linux-distributions

apparently debian is good for old systems as explained here

Answer 6

Your best bet would be either Fuduntu or Bodhi LInux.