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I suggest that you burn an .iso for Linux Mint 18.1 (MATE or Cinnamon 64 bit) to a USB drive or DVD and then run it live without actually installing it.
Alternatively, install VirtualBox in Kubuntu and then test a whole series of Linux distros inside VB until you find one you really like.
Distribution: manjaro (KDE) 17.1.7 or kubuntu 16.04.4
Posts: 65
Original Poster
Rep:
Thank you.
I assume that you have suggested Cinnamon because I have kde installed in kubuntu. My older machine is 32 bit, so I believe that the 32 bit version would be appropriate.
Do you know if the applications are very similar between the two distributions? or are there many differences.
Happy New Year
Ps. There appears to be no avatars in this group - unusual
Yes, 32 bit is the one for you on an older machine.
My personal preference is for the MATE version. I have nothing against Cinnamon myself.
All I would say is that those people who experience graphics problems (hardware acceleration) using Cinnamon, invariably do not have the problems with MATE (or Xfce).
Kubuntu and Mint are pretty similar regarding software packages.
What is the brand and model (and model number) of your laptop, along with hardware specs such as the processor, amount of system memory and graphics chip? This information might help us give you more detailed information and/or suggestions.
Distribution: manjaro (KDE) 17.1.7 or kubuntu 16.04.4
Posts: 65
Original Poster
Rep:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ardvark71
Hello and welcome to the forum
What is the brand and model (and model number) of your laptop, along with hardware specs such as the processor, amount of system memory and graphics chip? This information might help us give you more detailed information and/or suggestions.
Regards...
The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite model (L350-20G). 2 GB of RAM. I am not on the machine at present, but if you really need more information I will try and supply the details. My priorities are the best application software, customisation, and attractiveness (I know subjective).
Best wishes
Last edited by anon_private; 01-13-2017 at 08:12 AM.
My personal opinion is that linux is basically infinitely modular on any distribution. And for all intents and purposes, any distribution can be made to look and feel like any other distribution. I've found it's basically just the repositories you pull software from and most distributions have about all the software most people will use. And the software they don't have is installable from source. So I guess my question would be: What exactly are you looking to change?
The laptop is a Toshiba Satellite model (L350-20G). 2 MB of RAM. I am not on the machine at present, but if you really need more information I will try and supply the details. My priorities are the best application software, customisation, and attractiveness (I know subjective).
Hi...
I'm guessing you meant 2 gigabytes, not megabytes.
If so, with only 2 GB's, to avoid sluggishness, you might want to use a "lightweight" distribution that is designed for older systems or lower hardware specs, such as Lubuntu. The trade off is little to no eye candy.
Some DE's (Desktop Environment) such as KDE or Cinnamon tend to use more (sometimes significantly more) system memory. As an example, I remember once when I installed Mint Cinnamon on a laptop with 4 GB's of memory. The OS and Google Chrome, just those two items running right after booting up the system, took up almost the entire 4 GB's of memory, no joke!
Distribution: manjaro (KDE) 17.1.7 or kubuntu 16.04.4
Posts: 65
Original Poster
Rep:
Quite right 2 GB of RAM.
I have been using kubuntu on a desktop for years, with only 1 GB of RAM, and without problems.
I like eye candy and the more advanced desktops (heavier applications).
What would I like to see on the laptop? Different, but still high quality applications, e.g., Office, burner, browser, text editor, graphics programme, video player, etc. I am just looking for a distribution that offers other applications so that I will then have a choice. If I install kubuntu I will simply have another kubuntu machine (identical); although, this could be useful if the pc fails.
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