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I just got a new laptop that has an Intel Celeron Quad-Core processor of 1.83 GHz. On the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS website, they say the recommended minimum processor requirements are of 2.5 GHz. Are they talking about 2.5 GHz for just a single core, or a total of 2.5 GHz combined from all cores (in my case, 4 cores)?

And my laptop also has 4 GB RAM and a solid state drive. Should I install 16.04 or 14.04? Thanks.

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    I would say that is opinion-based, but the specs seem not an issue as you can see. May 19, 2016 at 15:40
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    I agree. With 4 cores, the computer will farm out the job to multiple cores. I'm currently running 16.04 on a dual 2ghz with only 1.5GB of ram, and it's very usable.
    – anonymous2
    May 19, 2016 at 15:44
  • When processor requirements are mentioned, the number of cores does not matter. I mean, if it says 2.5 GHz and a computer has 4 cores, it isn't like you can multiply 2.5 x 4 = 10. So, I think you should view it as a per core requirement. Having 4 cores just mean the number of programs you can run at the same time...
    – Ray
    May 19, 2016 at 16:00

2 Answers 2

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It depends on what sort of experience you are looking for. 16.04 is the current LTS release. However it has only been live for 3 weeks so it is pretty buggy, particularly if you are using a laptop.

If you want all the latest features and dont mind spending hours sorting out issues choose 16.04. If you just want an OS that works choose 14.04

Your hardware will run either just fine.

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  • My Dell laptop is rock solid on 16.04 Ubuntu MATE
    – pfeiffep
    May 20, 2016 at 1:43
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You will have no performance issues with either version, but 16.04 is the current LTS or Long Term Support version and will be supported for 5 years. 14.04 now has limited hardware, backports, and software support since it doesn't make sense to spend effort writing new stuff for an old version of the operating system.

Go with the current LTS version, 16.04.

Since you are running 4GB of RAM, if you do not plan to upgrade beyond that you should consider running the 32bit version. It doesn't include the PAE extensions that allow the kernel to address larger memory sizes making it a little bit more efficient. I suggest trying it out first since you seem to be concerned about performance, and you can just reinstall the standard 64bit version later if you want to compare the two.

You can get it here.

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    LTS is supported for 5 years.
    – Terrance
    May 19, 2016 at 15:53
  • So in layman's terms, what would I be missing if I installed the 32-bit version instead of the 64-bit?
    – user529161
    May 19, 2016 at 15:59
  • I seem to recall 14.04 server kernel hardware driver support ending before 2 years actually. I don't remember exactly when i started getting those errors. "Supported" is a relative term. :)
    – spyderdyne
    May 19, 2016 at 16:01
  • @dhaneku.b Effective, you'd lose access to a few hundred MB of RAM, and to 64-bit only software, if you run the 32-bit version. IMO, the performance difference is negligible; i see no reason to choose 32-bit OS if you have 64-bit hardware (and you do).
    – Zeiss Ikon
    May 19, 2016 at 16:01
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    @dhaneku.b you'll need 64 bit to run Chrome browser if that's your browser of choice
    – pfeiffep
    May 19, 2016 at 19:02