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So I'm planning on installing a linux version on my HP dv6t 2011 laptop. It has good specs, core i3, ATI 5750 etc. So far I have in thought, Ubuntu, openSUSE, Debain, and Fedora. However, considering Ubuntu 13.04 sort of tweaked unity more and made it less demanding, is unity now "lighter" than GNOME 3 (the version that Debain and Fedora use or is ubuntu still the heavy one?)
Distribution: OpenSUSE 13.2 64bit-Gnome on ASUS U52F
Posts: 1,444
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your computer with i3 processor will handle Unity just fine, and it will handle Gnome just fine too, so why worry about them being 'lighter'. It should come down to what you prefer the most.
You have mentioned in other post that you despised LXDE and Xfce, with that in mind remember that if you like a prettier GUI they will use more resources than the ligther one. But again with your computer you wont even notice any different in performance.
My Gateway pentium 4 1 GB ram, runs Gnome 3.4 just fine. my thinkpad t43 runs slackware with KDE 4.10 good enough too, just all the effects disabled.
As TroN-0074 said, and i3 will run both adequately. If you are interested in performance I wouldn't consider either. If I had to choose between the two I suppose I would pick Unity.
Oh okay, I'll go with unity then. I don't dislike LXDE and Xubutu but rather the way they look by default. I love the way they look in Lubuntu and Xubuntu but otherwise, ehhh. I honestly don't know what the GNOME team were thinking of when they released gnome 3, I like the idea and its cool but its just too much of a hassle if u have a lot of windows open
Edit: damn, one thing I'm getting annoyed right now is that there are so many varieties to pick from and really each of them are all good to use, it's so hard to chose. My thoughts are:
Ubuntu - Unity
Kubuntu - KDE (I don't like Xubuntu or Lubuntu because their sleep mode GUis look horrible)
Fedora 18 - KDE (I don't like GNOME 3, it's cool and all but it's not practical)
OpenSUSE - KDE ( has batter saving options, like fedora)
The reason why I may want to go for Ubuntu is because it has support for all programs I nesd like Steam and Spotify but then the fact that unity might affect FPS ingame and that there aren't really any power saving options. Kubuntu is the same but minus it affecting FPS ingame. Fedora and Opensuse are the ones that have good battery/power settings but they don't hve official releases in .rpm for Steam and Spotify. I don't think Unity affects FPS too much does it?
Everyone has their own opinions, which is why linux is great because you can pick the perfect operating system for you.
In my case, I like many of the sparse, do it yourself systems eg. Gentoo and Slack. However for my laptop I prefer a nice stable, easy to maintain system. I value speed and simplicity above all else so for me the best option is Crunchbang.
It is Debian based, and uses the synaptic package manager, much like ubuntu. However it uses an extremely light and fast WM called Openbox. Nobody likes it the first time they use it, however configure it to your liking, give it two weeks and you will be hooked and despise every other window manager. It's just that cool!
For some reason Opensuse won't boot up from my USB, I use netbootinstall or something and it works for all distros except for openSUSE for some reason. I've tried Fedora KDE so far and it's pretty good but I think I enjoy Slackware.
You really can't say things like Gnome, Unity, KDE, etc. in the same sentence with "light". However, if you throw enough hardware at them, similar to what Windows requires of its users, they do just fine. So pick what you like. My choice is the opposite of yours - Xfce - because I work mostly from the command line and prefer not to have all the bling-bling of the "more full featured" desktops. The cool thing about Linux, is you have the operating system, and then you have the desktop. You can mix and match them to your personal liking.
Distribution: Debian Wheezy, Jessie, Sid/Experimental, playing with LFS.
Posts: 2,900
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It amazes me that people think Unity and Gnome 3 are different things, they aren't. Unity and Gnome-Shell are different but both have Gnome 3 underneath and both are merely "shells" on top of Gnome 3.
Distribution: OpenSUSE 13.2 64bit-Gnome on ASUS U52F
Posts: 1,444
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Quote:
Originally Posted by k3lt01
It amazes me that people think Unity and Gnome 3 are different things, they aren't. Unity and Gnome-Shell are different but both have Gnome 3 underneath and both are merely "shells" on top of Gnome 3.
Up to this point it is the same thing but that is about to change with Unity migrating to QT and also migrating from X11 to MIR. I think Canonical target is 14.04 to be completed and changed.
However I think OP already has made his mind about this subject.
Distribution: Debian Wheezy, Jessie, Sid/Experimental, playing with LFS.
Posts: 2,900
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by TroN-0074
Up to this point it is the same thing but that is about to change with Unity migrating to QT and also migrating from X11 to MIR. I think Canonical target is 14.04 to be completed and changed.
I'll believe it when I see it. Not all that long ago Ubuntu was going to migrate to Wayland and now they have changed their mind. I take half of what comes from Canonical with a pinch of salt and the other half is usually just dreamtime stuff.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TroN-0074
However I think OP already has made his made about this subject.
A made(I assume this is supposed to be "point") based on incorrect knowledge.
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