Arch Linux

krazybastid

Member

Registered: 2007-03-27

Posts: 67

What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

I have an IBM Thinkpad Pentium 3 it's kind of worn out I bought it second hand. Kde was stalling at initiation screen. Is Gnome lighter for a Laptop? What about Xfce? I still want to utilize all the good apps like firefox,xine,mplayer,yapg,etc. Can Fluxbox or Openbox run any high end programs?

gothmog.todi

Member

From: Austria

Registered: 2007-07-18

Posts: 120

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

There isn't really that much difference between kde and gnome in that regard, they are both quite heavy. Xfce is a good option if you want a full desktop environment thats not to heavy on ram and cpu.
But I would recommend you using Openbox or Fluxbox. They are lightweight, easy to use and naturally you can use any program with them you could use with gnome or kde. Another option would be using an tiling window manager like awesome or xmonad. Thats probably the lightest option there is (exept don't using X at all), but it needs quite a lot of tinkering to get an usable setup.

avoulk

Member

From: Greece

Registered: 2007-08-28

Posts: 132

Website

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

+1 to openbox for a trully low-end workstation
As far as KDE is concerned, i have kdemod and the pc is up and running using ~70MB of RAM, i think gnome is a bit heavier

Consider also using Enlightenment

Last edited by avoulk (2008-01-06 12:58:23)

tlaloc

Member

From: Lower Saxony

Registered: 2006-05-12

Posts: 359

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

Try XFCE with KDE-runtime environment. This will allow for quick loading of some of the strongest KDE-apps (Konqi. k3b, amarok), while working under the more lightweight XFCE most of the time.
Firefox etc. may be started from any WM/DE. And E17 is also a good choice (use the takhis repo).

scrawler

Member

Registered: 2005-06-07

Posts: 318

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

I run xfce4, and like it, but I also like icewm.  I can't stand flux or black box.  KDE is ok.  I used to think I liked Gnome, but I'm over that now. :-)

So I'd say xfce4 or icewm.  Plus rox and mrxvt, of course, but you aren't asking about those...

:-)

exiguous

Member

Registered: 2007-11-11

Posts: 44

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

I'm currently using Fluxbox (Git version) with fbpanel. Fluxbox and Openbox can run any applications you choose. They are both light and can be made to look very attractive with a bit of work. Xfce is lighter than GNOME and KDE, so that's also an option. I've played around with it in the past, but I just prefer Fluxbox.

Last edited by exiguous (2008-01-06 18:30:26)

phisphere

Member

From: Tallinn, Estonia

Registered: 2007-03-05

Posts: 136

Website

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

*box is always a good option, also different tiling window managers are fast and useful, but need more tweaking to use them on a laptop (battery monitor, wireless etc)

krazybastid

Member

Registered: 2007-03-27

Posts: 67

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

Flux box seems like something cool i've tinkered with it a little but didn't put that much time into it i think i'm going to have to take kde off my laptop. i don't really need a laptop but i bought a crappy one to use at a coffee shop or something for security stuff i would also like to look into wifi for internet.

Mantaar

Member

Registered: 2007-12-17

Posts: 70

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

I recommend XMonad

---

Guy #1: I'd totally hit that.
Guy #2: Dude, I'd hit that so hard whoever could pull me out would become the King of England.
--College Walk, Columbia University (Overheard in NY)

cu3edweb

Member

From: USA

Registered: 2007-10-07

Posts: 291

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

I recommend XMonad

1+ for xmonad

exiguous

Member

Registered: 2007-11-11

Posts: 44

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

Flux box seems like something cool i've tinkered with it a little but didn't put that much time into it i think i'm going to have to take kde off my laptop.

I just wanted to add that the Fluxbox wiki is a good source for information on tinkering:

http://fluxbox-wiki.org

The manpages for fluxbox and fluxstyle are also quite helpful.

This is a good site for themes:

http://tenr.de

Misfit138

Misfit Emeritus

From: USA

Registered: 2006-11-27

Posts: 4,189

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

I use a Thinkpad T-23, 1GHz 512MB RAM with Xfce4 and it flies. Xfce is quickly becoming my favorite DE. I used to favor KDE, but Xfce is a bit lighter, faster, and it is quicker to customize IMO. Adding items to the panel is a snap and xfce-look.org has some great themes and icons.
Will be adding another 512MB RAM and CDRW/DVD combo drive soon.
My daughter's 1.2GHz T-23 runs KDE.

---

Amiga 1000 restomod
IBM PCjr restomod
C=64 restodmod
Sauengard

elliott

Member

Registered: 2006-03-07

Posts: 296

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

My T-21 (850mhz, 384mb RAM) has OpenBox on it now, I had Xfce but I found it a little bulky.

Last edited by elliott (2008-01-08 05:50:47)

F

Member

Registered: 2006-10-09

Posts: 322

Re: What is the best GUI to run on a slow Laptop?

easy: dwm. 
www.suckless.org/wiki/dwm