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Ubuntu's Unity interface is gone, which means there's one less desktop to choose from in Linux-land. And while dozens remain to choose from, Unity was one of the most polished out there. Many will miss its detail and design.
One of the desktops that is nearly as well polished, and therefore worth Unity fans considering, is the not-quite-as-new-kid on the block, Elementary OS.
Elementary OS actually began in 2011 as a theme for Ubuntu. It has evolved well beyond that now, with its own homegrown desktop environment dubbed Pantheon, 13 custom apps, and a distinct and very nice set of custom icons and themes. Under the hood it's still very much Ubuntu/Debian, so all the commands and basic apps you're used to will be there, even if you have to install them yourself. The Ubuntu/Debian underpinning also means you get the security and stability of those projects.
I've tested Elementary OS quite a bit over the last few years and I can say that, if you were put off by the bugginess of early releases, it's worth another look. The latest release, called Loki, has been very stable in my testing and features some really nice homegrown apps. The Elementary OS team is very good at getting the core of an app right and then polishing up the details over time.
Awesome. I really miss how Unity would slow my desktop to a crawl.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Friday June 30 2017, @03:47PM (8 children)
I have an old Gateway laptop that I can't put on the network because it runs XP. Still can't find a distro that will run on it.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by KGIII on Friday June 30 2017, @05:14PM (2 children)
What steps have you taken? What errors does it throw?
Toss a bootable Lubuntu onto a USB and boot from that, perhaps? See if that gets you in there.
(Even though I have modern computers, I still love LXDE. It's my DE of choice.)
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday July 01 2017, @03:39PM (1 child)
It simply locks up with a black screen no matter what distro I've tried. It does have a CD burner, making it easier than the hassle readying a USB drive like on one of my other laptops.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 2) by KGIII on Saturday July 01 2017, @04:16PM
PAE, maybe? Though I'd expect to see an error.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."
(Score: 2) by UncleSlacky on Friday June 30 2017, @08:54PM
I'd try antiX, Slitaz and Puppy on it, (in that order).
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 01 2017, @02:45AM
Lubuntu and antiX are indeed the ones that get mentioned a lot in this context.
(antiX doesn't use systemd.)
My experience with Slitaz was disappointing, but that was on a Pentium 2 with 128MB of RAM.
People who recommend Puppy Linux should make sure to say that it is a single-user system.
If you are the only one who will ever use the system and it never leaves your sight, it might be acceptable.
If a child/spouse/houseguest will ever -your- box, don't put Puppy on that.
Everybody will be using the same user account and have access to all of your data on the system.
Puppy is the Windoze 9x of Linux distros.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by driverless on Saturday July 01 2017, @09:29AM (2 children)
This distro [freedos.org] should do the trick.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Saturday July 01 2017, @03:29PM (1 child)
I remember that one... it's capapble of internet access now? Does it run Linux or Windows programs? I used it way back before Windows 95. There was one called FreeDOS, too.
mcgrewbooks.com mcgrew.info nooze.org
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday July 02 2017, @04:41AM
Yup.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]