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Thread: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

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    Grumpy and VERY old :( g8ina's Avatar
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    Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    Intending to change my XP installation on my Tosh Pro 4600 (800MHz, 256MB, 16Mb gfx, 10GB HDD) to Linux. Ive used Ubuntu in the past and am happy enough with it, but will it run in such a small environment ? If not, then what ?
    Cheers, David



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    Moosing about! CAT-THE-FIFTH's Avatar
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    I would look at Puppy Linux or Damn Small Linux. Even Kubuntu will be a bit heavy for your laptop from my own experience.

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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    It'll run, but you may be more interested in Xubuntu, Fluxbuntu, Lubuntu or some such lightweight graphical environment.
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    Bagnaj97
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    In my experience Xubuntu's not particularly lightweight. I'd give Lubuntu a try; LXDE's still a fairly well integrated desktop but pretty lightweight, and you've still got access to all the Ubuntu repositories. Fluxbuntu isn't as user friendly; fine if you're a power user and going to be spending most of your time in a terminal, but I guess in that case you wouldn't be asking this question.

    I'd say your biggest problem is ram, if you can find some more from somewhere then full fat Ubuntu should run reasonably well.

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    Grumpy and VERY old :( g8ina's Avatar
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    I had no end of probs trying to install Ubuntu ! So in the end I gave up and Debian is now progressing towards being fully installed with lowmem options. Docs reckon I should be very happy with only 256MB Ram. Fingers crossed.
    Cheers, David



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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    You're working with very limited hardware really, I imagine any full-fat desktop environment will run slowly, unfortunately. I have a Toshiba laptop with slightly better specs than that, 1.5GHz Northwood, 512MB, 20GB and it may just be because I'm used to things being faster but it just can't run a 'normal' OS fast enough to be bearable for me.

    I also find Xubuntu is particularly lightweight, in fact last time I tried it on a limited system it used more RAM than Ubuntu. Lubuntu or Debian with LXDE may be a worthwhile option, failing that give Puppy Linux a go if you're OK with single-user. Tiny Core is another excellent OS if you're more familiar with Linux.

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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    Any ubuntu will be fine.

    If a boggo atom 1.6 can run it you 800mhz p3 will be fine.

    Maybe use Xubuntu as it's slightly more lightweight. Or install a light windows manager (fluxbox) and it'll zip along.

    My only concern is the gfx. Is it one of those 16m savage things?

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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    Not true, Atom is a more advanced architecture, you can't just look at clock speed. I'm also speaking from experience when I say Ubuntu doesn't run well on a 1.5GHz Celeron Northwoood, or even a desktop 2.4GHz Northwood with 1GB RAM for that matter. I mean it runs, but be prepared to wait to do anything. Don't forget the IO of the rest of the system will be much lower than a modern Atom-based system.

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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    CrunchBang. It'll boot at use ~63mb on initial load, comes with the latest apps, super stream lined, and relatively easy to use. http://crunchbanglinux.org/

    Plus it runs on debian 6.

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    Grumpy and VERY old :( g8ina's Avatar
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    I finally decided to take the laptop back to its original OS - windows 2000

    After trying a dozen or so linuxes, I found this to be the best all round option, it even runs 720p videos in Media Player Classic with K-Lite codecs.
    Cheers, David



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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    Seriously, Windows 2k?

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    Grumpy and VERY old :( g8ina's Avatar
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    Yep Daft innit Knocks spots off XP or any of the Linux I tried. Even with just 256MB RAM !
    Cheers, David



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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    you should be able to use any distro of your personnel preference just go with a minimal install and use something like ldxe for a desktop environment and just dont overload it with packages. Its what I have done with any boxes that have had a low spec

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    The late but legendary peterb - Onward and Upward peterb's Avatar
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    Quote Originally Posted by g8ina View Post
    Yep Daft innit Knocks spots off XP or any of the Linux I tried. Even with just 256MB RAM !
    I have to agree! I avoided moving to XP until it was almost superceded by Vista, and when I did, I found it disappointing. Win7 is good, but Win2K set a standard that (imho) wasn't surpassed until Win7 was released. So I suppose my next windows upgrade will be Windows 10 or 11.
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    A bit of a 'holy thread revival', however... I completely agree.
    I was a big fan of Win 2K generally, finding that XP just did the same but nicer-looking / more resources used.
    Win 2K was my first experience of "Oh, look it all just works and doesnt crash". Win 7 similarly.
    That said, Win 2K was being compared and contrasted to Win ME, and even my 3 yr old son's painting of a computer is more productive than ME

    Back to the original topic though, I still run a P3 laptop which dual boots XP, but Xubuntu works a bit better on it. That said, the RAM is 768MB which makes a huge difference compared to 256, and is probably the key factor in this sort of decision.
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    Re: Best Linux for 800MHz cpu, low RAM and grafix ?

    If you're interested, check out Jolicloud. It is based on Ubuntu and is very web centric but not as much as Chrome OS.

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