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We are currently looking at Ubuntu to power our school district's computing resources. I am familiar with, and use 10.04LTS, but am not a guru.

The computers at the schools are several years old, and I thought we could upgrade the OS to Ubuntu instead of Windows to save money on the front end by not having to upgrade the hardware right off. I have Ubuntu 10.04 LTS running as smooth as silk on a computer I built for my son 8 years ago.

I see Ubuntu 12.04 LTS is out. Can we use that to upgrade the OS on the old computers, or should we go with an older version?

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Could you list the hardware specs of the computers you're considering? I.e., how much RAM, what kind of processor, how big is the hard drive, what kind of video card? And how many years old is "several"? – dxvxd Aug 23 '12 at 22:52

6 Answers

up vote 4 down vote

Ubuntu generally is not a resource hungry operating system and should work on most computers. Check the Ubuntu wiki page for the minimum system requirements

However if the computers in question are really old, Lubuntu, (a ubuntu variant) suited for older computers should work just fine.

Best option is to try Ubuntu to see if it will run well and if it doesn't go for Lubuntu

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up vote 2 down vote

I think you will be fine with 12.04. The main issue is memory, of course, but you can always dump Unity and compiz and stick to either gnome or even try something like Xubuntu is as simple as installing one package, xubuntu-desktop).

If unsure, install it first on a separate partition and see how it works.

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up vote 1 down vote

I have Ubuntu 12.04 installed on a fairly low end machine (AMD 6000+, 2gb of ram and Integrated Nvidia) and Unity doesn't run particularly well. Xubuntu or Lubuntu would be the best way to go.

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When you log in, do you select 'Ubuntu 2D'? I'm in a similar situation (integrated graphics) and my 12.04 machine works very well in Ubuntu 2D. – dxvxd Aug 24 '12 at 0:30
up vote 1 down vote

I recommend Lubuntu - which is a litle more lightweight.

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Iztok: Given what the OP is trying to accomplish, it may be useful to explain why its light weight and also some information about minimum requirements compared to what is being asked. – Stephen Myall Aug 24 '12 at 8:20
If I use three sentences from Lubuntu: "Lubuntu uses the minimal desktop LXDE, and a selection of light applications. We focus on speed and energy-efficiency. Because of this, Lubuntu has very low hardware requirements. " – Iztok Aug 27 '12 at 3:45
@Iztok I recommend editing your answer to add that (with a citation identifying the specific page where you got it). – Eliah Kagan Oct 2 '12 at 19:02
up vote 0 down vote

I am currently running XUbuntu 12.04 on a machine from 2004 or 2005 (pentium 4, 3,2GHz with 2GB RAM) and it runs very well. Unity (2d/3d) and Gnome3 are slow but xfce is as fast as it was on the same machine running previous versions with Gnome2.

Actually, the P4 with xfce is more responsive than a better machine I use too, a core duo machine from 2010 with 2GB ram running Gnome3 or Unity on it (so now I run mostly xfce on this one too...).

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up vote 0 down vote

I have fully tested Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on several older HP PCs with only Intel P4 1.8GHz, 1GB RAM, 40GB or 80GB HDD.

They all worked fine, except for new 3D and advanced graphics features. However, it still appeared slick and modern without these features ..

The underlying performance of Ubuntu has only improved since 10.04 LTS. It has not become bloated or slower for the same hardware. The same can definitely not be said for either Mac or Windows.

Strongly recommend you standardize on 12.04 LTS, and stick with it for next 3+ years.

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