Lubuntu vs Elementary OS

[noahsheldon81]

Hello, currently I have a Lenovo Thinkpad X220 hackintosh which is running El Capitan. I am looking to experiment/try Linux because one of my friends say he likes it way better than OSX or Windows. I want a light version that won't use many resources, will run quiet, have great battery life, and be secure. My two top choices right now after doing some research are Lubuntu and Elementary OS. Which one would you recommend and why? Also, if you have a different distro you think I would like better or would work better for me, just let me know. 

Thanks in advance. 

[Ethann_AKA_CPU1]

I personally use fedora and love it so that's what i recommend

[toogamer]

I used to use Elementary OS on an old Dell, either one works well with Elementary OS looking better IMO and Lubuntu being supported more due to it being based on Ubuntu.

[AnnoyedShelf]

Hello, currently I have a Lenovo Thinkpad X220 hackintosh which is running El Capitan. I am looking to experiment/try Linux because one of my friends say he likes it way better than OSX or Windows. I want a light version that won't use many resources, will run quiet, have great battery life, and be secure. My two top choices right now after doing some research are Lubuntu and Elementary OS. Which one would you recommend and why? Also, if you have a different distro you think I would like better or would work better for me, just let me know. 

Thanks in advance. 

Honestly I really like Linux Mint XFCE.  Very lightweight, and has the awesome XFCE desktop environment, which is very customizable.  I have it running on my netbook, and it's pretty great.  Plus, if you're a beginner, it's awesome that it comes with all the codecs and plugins you need right out of the box.  I feel like LXDE is a bit ugly, and I've tried Elementary OS, and it feels a bit limited IMO.

[AlTech]

Ubuntu or Lubuntu will be fine

[SubTract]

I'd go either Mint XFCE like @AnnoyedShelf said or Xubuntu. XFCE is very customisable, Also comes with a Dock pre-installed if you actually use it.

 

Elementary puts to many eggs in the beautiful basket and misses a few key things IMO.

If you want some inspiration you could always visit r/unixporn

[jszym]

I personally replaced my Elementary OS install with Lubuntu... Elementary is BEAUTIFUL, but it's just too buggy for me. It's subtle, and you don't notice it at first, but eventually the same old bugs become too much to bother with.

 

On the other hand, Lubuntu is just so increiblly responsive and lightweight. Easily get 3 more hours out of my battery, and hardly have any trouble with responsiveness.

[xunil]

Elementary OS is a great "beginner OS"  very intuitive U.I and looks a lot like OSX.  Personally I use Arch Linux with LXDE, and I LOVE LXDE, so if you want something a little more customization and super lightweight, albeit less beginner friendly, go with Lubuntu.

[Satlen]

If you want something super lightweight, do some research and learn how to install arch linux. The distro is as light as you make it. Architect Linux will make the process much simpler http://architectlinux.boardhost.com/

[xunil]

If you want something super lightweight, do some research and learn how to install arch linux. The distro is as light as you make it. Architect Linux will make the process much simpler http://architectlinux.boardhost.com/

Thanks for introducing me to architect!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I am eternally thankful to you for making me love Arch even more.     

[deviantsteam1]

Pftt. Install LFS and call it a day ...

[DimasRMDO]

Elementary OS is similar to Ubuntu, it's based on Ubuntu. The interface and the pre-installed softwares are making it different, resource usage is different as well.

I would say Lubuntu, or if you want then Xubuntu, it's just different desktop environment. Lubuntu is way lighter than Elementary OS.

Keep in mind that Lubuntu has little pre-installed softwares, but it's very lightweight and use less power.

[Azgoth 2]

Lubuntu is Ubuntu pre-built to work with LXDE by default, rather than the (rather atrocious) Unity desktop environment Ubuntu comes with by default.  LXDE is designed largely to be very lightweight and use minimal system resources, so it's pretty barebones and minimal compared to a lot of other desktop environments.  I don't like it that much, but that's just personal preference.  You might want to look at some of the other Ubuntu flavors with different desktop environments: default Ubuntu has Unity, which I (and many, but by no means all, others) very much dislike.  Unity is pretty resource intensive compared to other desktop environments, and doesn't have as much customization, but it might be you sort of deal.  There's also Xubuntu, which uses the much more well-liked XFCE, another fairly light desktop environment, but not as lightweight and bareboned as LXDE.  Kubuntu has KDE, which a lot of people really like and is pretty damn customizeable.  And there's Ubuntu Mate, which has Mate, the overall design of which I like a lot.  Of course, you can always install different desktop environments side-by-side and choose which one you want to load up, so you can always play around with a few different ones and find which one you like best.  There's a smal performance difference between, say, Kubuntu and default Unity Ubuntu running KDE, but it won't be noticeable on most computers.

 

As for Elementary OS: I don't use it or know much about it, but a lot of peopl say a lot of very good things about it.

 

Personally, I use Linux Mint, mostly because it comes pre-installed with a lot of multimedia codecs and such (including some non-free ones, so be warned if that's something that you care about), so there's less stuff that you have to install to get it up and running really nicely.  It also uses Cinnamon, which is very similar to Mate, but is built on a newer code base.  Mint is also pretty lightweight as Linux goes and a great daily OS.  It, like Elementary OS, is based on Ubuntu, but the only major differences are the desktop environment, what comes pre-installed (you can always uninstall things and install new things), and what updates are automatically downloaded by default, a setting you can easily change.

 

There's also Pinguy OS, which I've played with briefly, and which is a pretty great OS with a lot of pre-installed stuff and a pretty nice, feature-rich desktop environment.  Might be one to look into.

[Brian_Wee]

Use elementaryOS if you prefer the mac look

use Lubuntu if you want the support