Tell me more ×
Ask Ubuntu is a question and answer site for Ubuntu users and developers. It's 100% free, no registration required.
up vote 12 down vote favorite
2

This question already has an answer here:

I have a very old Toshiba laptop. Specs can be found here.

What would be the best distribution for this machine? Does anyone have some suggestions? I only have 512 MB of RAM.

share|improve this question
I myself use Normal Ubuntu for everything. I once installed on a laptop with same RAM as yours, and it worked fine. I'm making this a comment because I don't want to get downvoted to oblivion because other people disagree. – Joe the Person Jun 23 '11 at 17:20

marked as duplicate by Eliah Kagan, Seth, Basharat Sial, maggotbrain, Eric Carvalho Apr 13 at 0:02

This question has been asked before and already has an answer. If those answers do not fully address your question, please ask a new question.

4 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

Xubuntu

Xubuntu is designed to run on light weight machines. I recently installed it on a machine with 768MB of RAM and other specs close to your machine and it runs without an issue.

Xubuntu Desktop

Xubuntu is simply Ubuntu bundled with the XFCE Desktop Environment - a DE designed to be fast and light weight on lower end systems without compromising performance and visual style. Xubuntu is also officially recognized and supported by Canonical whereas other light weight Ubuntu Flavors (like Lubuntu) are not.

share|improve this answer
up vote 19 down vote

Lubuntu (Ubuntu with the LXDE desktop environment) or Xubuntu (Ubuntu with the Xfce desktop environment). Xubuntu is more "user friendly" -- more graphical tools for settings, better looking and better integrated applications and maybe better support (larger community). On the other hand, Lubuntu needs less RAM (Lubuntu about 128 MB, Xubuntu about 256 MB). It depends on your skills and preferences, you can try both and then choose.

To sum it up: Xubuntu is light, Lubuntu is lighter.

share|improve this answer
to take into account: the default file manager pcmanfm do not support the trash-bin (or at least last time a tried lxde, some versions ago of ubuntu). – enzotib Jun 23 '11 at 14:19
+1 I would add that if you can handle not running a full desktop then I suggest using the fluxbox window manager. I don't have the exact numbers but it frees up even more precious RAM. – KennyPeanuts Jun 23 '11 at 15:52
up vote 1 down vote

I run Xubuntu on several old laptops when needed, one has only 256 mb of memory and it runs fine for light tasks. Still stable to work on large spreadsheets for example though.

share|improve this answer
up vote 1 down vote

Well your PC isn't that much hopeless. I would suggest you to try installing normal Ubuntu AND Unity 2D desktop environment.

Of course, if you don't like Unity, this won't be a good solution. However, if you will try that, you will get full Ubuntu support.

I've tried Lubuntu before (installed it via Software manager). It's very basic DE and had some problems. It might be good, but I still suggest you to give Unity 2D a try.

share|improve this answer

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.