Whats best for this pc

[Womble]

Got an old laptop - 1.6ghz P4, 256MB ram and am going to format it. It has windows 2k on it but only have an xp cd. My options are xp/vista or linux. Im thinking vista will be too much of a hog and dont know about xp. I have ubuntu 7.10 here that I could put on it or possibly arch (although aint used this much so would be a big learning curve)

Basically, would it handle xp? Would ubuntu run better then xp. Im guessing arch would run the best but how much better then ubuntu would it run (worth the steep learning curve?)

 

[TrX]

Bit more ram would make buntu or windows run nicley.

Sad to say it, but nowadays windows will probably feel quicker than ubuntu on that hardware. Tho i'd go for ubuntu 8.04 when it comes out in a few days.

(As windows may be faster, but it's like a fast car with no steering compared to a slightly less nippy car with the handling of the exige.. IMO anyway.. i mean you need a third party app to SSH.. what the hell )

//TrX

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Xubuntu would be the *buntu of choice here. If you want to have a go with Arch you'd definitely find it nippy. As above the main issue is the lack of RAM.

 

[GarethDW]

Yeah, I'd say go for Xubuntu too. That should work fine on those specs. I'm sure XP could be made to run on it too, but Xubuntu would work outta the box, imo.

Arch left me unimpressed when I last played with it, but I've not got the time to devote to properly getting my head around it in fairness, so YMMV.

 

[.walls]

ah! A car analogy and linux... Although the best one that i have heard is:

If linux was a car, it would have 18 steering wheels and no air conditioning - but you would be able to change the radio station from the hubcaps

 

[BillytheImpaler]

Nah, airplane analogies are better: http://linuxgazette.net/issue45/orr.html

Windows Air
The terminal is pretty and colorful, with friendly stewards, easy baggage check and boarding, and a smooth take-off. After about 10 minutes in the air, the plane explodes with no warning whatsoever.

Linux Air
Disgruntled employees of all the other OS airlines decide to start their own airline. They build the planes, ticket counters, and pave the runways themselves. They charge a small fee to cover the cost of printing the ticket, but you can also download and print the ticket yourself. When you board the plane, you are given a seat, four bolts, a wrench and a copy of the Seat-HOWTO.html. Once settled, the fully adjustable seat is very comfortable, the plane leaves and arrives on time without a single problem, the in-flight meal is wonderful. You try to tell customers of the other airlines about the great trip, but all they can say is, "You had to do what with the seat?"

 

[marscay]

Arch left me unimpressed when I last played with it, but I've not got the time to devote to properly getting my head around it in fairness, so YMMV.

how so?

 

[Ethics]

Xubuntu would be the *buntu of choice here. If you want to have a go with Arch you'd definitely find it nippy. As above the main issue is the lack of RAM.

Barebones Arch would fly on pretty much anything. It's when you start adding extra services, an X server and a WM/DE that it'll be very similar to Ubuntu (Note: me and Ubuntu don't get on, whereas Arch is my mistress).

If you don't mind editing configs and doing some reading ,go with arch and the base install. Then install/configure from the ground up, installing only what you need.

Fluxbox is a great WM that's very customisable. I wouldn't suggest any of the heavy ones like gnome (which Ubuntu uses) or KDE (Which Kbuntu uses) although Arch can have KDEmod which is a brilliant piece of work.