Which Distro (steam Support?)

[smogsy]

So going to put Linux on my HP Envy not sure which,

Needs to support
Steam (they recommend Ubuntu is that my only option?)
Fast
My Wifi card

Reason
Coding in Shell/Bash
Testing Steam on Linux
See if i can move fully to Linux - Before I move my PC

So Spec of laptop
Intel® Core™ i7-4700MQ
15" Touchscreen 1920x1080 (dont care for touch though)
16 GB DDR Memory
256 Samsung SSD Storage
Qualcomm Atheros A/C Wireless
Trackpad ofc
750Ti

 

[OhEsEcks]

Steam: They'll all support Steam, but a Debian based distro (of which Ubuntu and derivatives are) will be the least hassle since that is what SteamOS is built around.
Fast: They'll all be fast. I personally have switched to Xubuntu (Ubuntu with XFCE) as my daily driver.
WiFi: That entirely depends on the chipset your card uses and the kernel version. Atheros has been one of the best supported wireless technologies under Linux since the company was formed. So you shouldn't have a problem there. Depending on the card chipset, it will use the ath5k or ath9k drivers.

Oh, trackpad drivers can be a problem. Linux drivers for sentelic finger sensing touchpads (usually found on top spec ultrabooks like Gigabyte x11 and Asus zenbooks) are ****. To put it nicely. The multi-touch synaptic devices and drivers are much better.

 

[smogsy]

mine is a Multi Touch & dont like the multi touch anyway.

i use Lubuntu at work?

So for less Hassle i could use Lubuntu/Ubuntu/Xubuntu or a various version of debian

Also gfx card is Nvidia 750TI

 

[OhEsEcks]

Lubuntu is good and I may switch to it when it starts shipping with LXQT. Graphics shouldn't be a problem. You can install the drivers for the GPU via the additional drivers method or manually. The only problems I've seen with dedicated GPUs is switchable graphics / optimus graphics (switch between onboard and GPU depending on load) and that was in the early days of things like the bumblebee project, though that's probably better now. I only have onboard in my laptop, so not a problem for me.

 

[smogsy]

so, i tried:

Xubuntu
i had trackpad issues, whereit would just freeze.

Ubuntu
works well, & i found out that its the Nvidia Drivers causing track pad issues. i think when it switches to Intel it stop ouput or whatever.

Another problem battery life on ubuntu sucks balls. Compizx/Xorg are constantly using 10% even running top.

So not sure if to switch back to Xubuntu or go Lubuntu or find somthing else...

Lubuntu is a bit ugly...

could try crunchbang but not sure how easy it is to use.

 

[Number_25]

so, i tried:

Xubuntu
i had trackpad issues, whereit would just freeze.

Ubuntu
works well, & i found out that its the Nvidia Drivers causing track pad issues. i think when it switches to Intel it stop ouput or whatever.

Another problem battery life on ubuntu sucks balls. Compizx/Xorg are constantly using 10% even running top.

So not sure if to switch back to Xubuntu or go Lubuntu or find somthing else...

Lubuntu is a bit ugly...

could try crunchbang but not sure how easy it is to use.

Have you installed powertop to deal with the battery issues? I have Ubuntu running on my ultrabook and I'm capable of getting around 10 hours use.