Netbook: What OS for 2014?

[ehume]

My wife uses her old Acer netbook to listen to music (Internet radio) while she peddles her stationary bike in the morning. The netbook uses Win XP home basic, for which support will end in April 2014. I have no intention of letting this become our entry point for malware.

Of course this old thing runs slowly -- it always did. But is there a more modern Windows that will run on this slow 1.6GHz Atom and its 0.99GB RAM? Or will I have to move this to Linux?

If I should ask this question in a more appropriate forum, please suggest a move.

 

[DaveSimmons]

I use Windows 7 on a dual-core atom with 2 GB for a HTPC and it runs OK.

Of course for the cost of a Windows license you could almost buy a Kindle Fire HD, or could buy some cheaper Android tablet for under $100.

You can't beat $0 for Ubuntu. She might end up hating Linux but all she needs to learn on it is how to start Firefox or Chrome.

 

[Ken g6]

You can't beat $0 for Ubuntu.

Yes you can. You can get Kubuntu or Xubuntu for $0 instead. Both are more like the Windows she's used to - or at least Kubuntu was when last I looked.

 

[Torn Mind]

Linux is fine for mere consumption, but any more and there will be stumblingblocks.

KDE is a desktop environment you would want to avoid. Gobbles up resources like mad.

LXDE would be ok, so would XFCE, as they are not as resources-intensive, but they don't behave as Windows.

GNOME, I'm not sure now, but GNOME 3 was initially a pain for many people.

Don't have a clue about how Ubuntu's Unity works.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Some flavor of Linux is definitely a good choice.

I'm typing this on an 11.6" "Netbook" from Asus, that shipped with Ubuntu on it, I think it's great!
2GB DDR3, 320GB HD, Celeron 1007U 1.5Ghz Ivy Bridge. Only a 3-cell fixed battery, with 2.5 - 3.5 hr battery life.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Yeah, I like Xubuntu.

 

[Torn Mind]

Some flavor of Linux is definitely a good choice.

I'm typing this on an 11.6" "Netbook" from Asus, that shipped with Ubuntu on it, I think it's great!
2GB DDR3, 320GB HD, Celeron 1007U 1.5Ghz Ivy Bridge. Only a 3-cell fixed battery, with 2.5 - 3.5 hr battery life.

Your so-called "netbook" is of a higher class than the typical Atom-powered netbooks of yore. An Ivy Bridge Celeron dual core is not the same as something like a single core N450 with 1GB of RAM. And if they got loads of -ware on there, they then become a gargantuan pain to decrapify due the slow CPU and 5400 RPM hard drive.

It's LXDE or XFCE based desktop environments or nothing for those old netbooks, and probably a small SSD.

 

[ehume]

It's vintage 2009. It saw her through many a time. Now it's just an Internet radio player. And it's single core, with a spinning-disk HD.

 

[monstercameron]

atom w/pvr and ubuntu isnt a good match at all, win7 is a pretty good os.

 

[mfenn]

Don't have a clue about how Ubuntu's Unity works.

It's vaguely OS X like except that the "dock" is on the left side by default instead of the bottom. Having the dock on the left (or right) is actually a pretty nice use of space for widescreen monitors since vertical pixels are at more of a premium.

I've found that how much you like it is pretty much predicated on how much you like / are used to OS X. If you're mostly comfortable in Windows, then it will be pretty jarring.

 

[sm625]

If you put windows 7 on there it will be unbearably slow. Why not just block all ports except the one for Pandora? It is highly unlikely that it will get infected if only one port is open to only one application.

 

[PliotronX]

I like the recommendation for Linux. Check out Linux Mint, a splinter of Ubuntu with improvements, specifically the Xfce version 9 for a super lightweight distro. Throw XMMS on there and you've got a nice little internetbook radio.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

just because support for xp is ending does not mean it automatically becomes malware infested.

If you must switch there is a version of ubuntu specifically designed for netbooks (UNE). It's since been merged into Unity. I'm using 10.10 maverick meerkat and found it to be very nice, especially for low powered netbooks.

 

[ehume]

If you put windows 7 on there it will be unbearably slow. Why not just block all ports except the one for Pandora? It is highly unlikely that it will get infected if only one port is open to only one application.

I like the recommendation for Linux. Check out Linux Mint, a splinter of Ubuntu with improvements, specifically the Xfce version 9 for a super lightweight distro. Throw XMMS on there and you've got a nice little internetbook radio.

I like both of these ideas -- the first for April, the second for May and the months/years following. I'd hate to have to retire a machine that still works well.

 

[bbhaag]

If you're really considering the Linux route I'd recommend http://peppermintos.com/. I had it running on a 1.6ghz Sempron with 768MB of ram and it ran surprisingly smooth.

Also a sweet little radio app that I use is called Radio Tray. It works great and is light on resources. You can find in the Software Manager.

 

[gus6464]

If you're really considering the Linux route I'd recommend http://peppermintos.com/. I had it running on a 1.6ghz Sempron with 768MB of ram and it ran surprisingly smooth.

Also a sweet little radio app that I use is called Radio Tray. It works great and is light on resources. You can find in the Software Manager.

That looks pretty slick. I love the minimalist look on OS'es.

 

[gus6464]

GNOME, I'm not sure now, but GNOME 3 was initially a pain for many people.

Don't have a clue about how Ubuntu's Unity works.

I find Unity to be laggy mess.

I think Ubuntu Gnome is dead sexy though.

 

[mfenn]

I find Unity to be laggy mess.

I think Ubuntu Gnome is dead sexy though.

Somebody who actually likes Gnome 3? Burn the heretic!! :twisted:

 

[Fox5]

The latest Ubuntu, 13.04, works really well on my single core 1.5Ghz Pentium M laptop with 1.5GB of ram. That's roughly on par with a netbook, albeit I have an SSD in it. Unity has come a long way since its initial release.

 

[gus6464]

Somebody who actually likes Gnome 3? Burn the heretic!! :twisted:

I don't get why Gnome 3 got such a bad rap.

 

[bbhaag]

That looks pretty slick. I love the minimalist look on OS'es.

Me to that's why I really like Peppermint. The nice thing about it is even though it's a cloud based OS you still have full access to the Software Manager and the Synaptic Package Manager and of course you can add your own PPAs through the terminal for programs not found in the package managers.

 

[ehume]

Cloud-based OS?

 

[bbhaag]

Cloud-based OS?

A lot of the applications or apps that come pre-packaged with Peppermint are more web-centric or cloud based. Like dropbox or gwoffice.
The nice feature about this distro is it still retains access to Ubuntus large selection of apps found in their package managers.
It's hard to explain so here's a link that might http://peppermintos.com/about/

This excerpt from the link above sounds like it might be a good fit for a first time Linux user like your wife would be.

The notion that in order to use, enjoy and be proficient with Linux is that you will need uber-geek hacking skills is completely False. And, this is just the stigma surrounding Linux that needs to be erased once and for all with Peppermint. There hasn’t been one person we have shown Peppermint OS to who hasn’t understood how to operate it as a desktop environment by just putting it in front of them and turning it on…

 

[monstercameron]

another suggestion for a lightweight os is bodhi linux with e17...100-200MB ran usage and uber light weight compositor.

 

[mfenn]

I don't get why Gnome 3 got such a bad rap.

Well, they did abandon the advanced technologies known as right click and desktop icons.