The operating system was initially developed as an experiment and the goal was to see how many apps would fit onto a 50 MB live CD. Linux Lite is certainly more demanding than other lightweight distros but it’s also one of the best in terms of features and performance. If you want to download Elive for free, you’ll need to enter your email address and wait about an hour to receive the download link. 5 Lightweight Linux Desktop Environments 1. In other words, you’re getting pretty much all the basic apps you would expect from a regular operating system but without any of the clutter. All Right Reserved. Cinnamon is the default desktop environment for Linux Mint and it's one of the main reasons why Mint is so popular. Ubuntu doesn’t come with pre-installed Pip, but here…, “All the best people in life seem to like Linux.” - Steve Wozniak. In addition, you have plenty of layouts and customization options at your disposal that can make the desktop look even prettier. Web, FTP, and email servers are ready to go out of the box, as are a wide selection of popular desktop environments. LXQt. Moksha is a continuation of Enlightenment 17 desktop with … However, we think the hassle is worth it because with these distros you can essentially revive an old system and make it usable again. Wow; here’s an article to write… Tuning Linux to match your resources. A few notable layouts include Redmond (perfect for Windows users), Cupertino (perfect for MacOS users), Mutiny, Pantheon, and Netbook. X11 IS old crap. These operating systems don’t feature many of the scripts and wizards that you and I take for granted in 2020. Elive comes with a visually appealing desktop environment based on Enlightenment, albeit with plenty of custom modifications on top. Here you will find everything ranging from objective reviews about the best distros available to tutorials that will teach you how to make good use of various helpful commands. In addition, there’s also a very helpful Wiki page that contains tons of useful information about getting started and getting the most out of Bodhi Linux. Like most distros, Absolute Linux has a live version that can be installed directly from a CD or flash drive. If you’re looking for a lightweight Linux distro that comes with plenty of helpful tools and features right off the bat, you’re going to love what Ubuntu MATE has to offer. A major selling point of this distribution is that it can boot up in just 15 seconds when running locally or around 25 seconds when running from a flash drive. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. MATE has been popularised mainly as an alternative to Cinnamon DE on Linux Mint. If you’re looking for distros that can run even on ancient hardware, however, there are few choices better than TinyCore, Damn Small Linux, and even Porteus to some extent. LXQt ist eine ganz frische Portierung von LXDE, die im Hintergrund auf Qt statt auf GTK setzt … older or embedded hardware) to be used productively. Familiar experience . The Cinnamon desktop environment is modern and stylish. XFCE is one of the most popular lightweight Linux desktop environments around. It is a highly configurable standalone window manager. ​​LinuxAndUbuntu.com  focuses on open source projects but specific on Debian based distributions. This is thanks to a fairly unique feature that allows the OS to run directly from system RAM. There are plenty of laptops and desktops that come pre-loaded with Ubuntu MATE but if you don’t want to buy a new system, you can simply download the operating system and create a bootable DVD-ROM or USB flash drive. Lubuntu is exactly what it sounds like, a lightweight version of Ubuntu. Linux has for a long time reached and even surpassed the feature quality of Windows and MacOS when it comes to the desktop environments (Unity, GNOME 3 and KDE). Hola instala batocera linux te dejo el link del video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq4nl3i5AXI, Linux might not be the preferred operating system of most regular users, but it’s definitely the go-to choice for the majority of developers and programmers. Bodhi Linux is an Ubuntu LTS-based distribution that first launched nearly a decade ago. Some of the more noteworthy pre-installed applications include Firefox, LibreOffice, Redshift, Plank, Network Manager, Blueman, Magnus, Orca Screen Reader, and more. Don't want something in LXDE, or don't want to use LXDE but only part of it? How to Properly Set Up and Manage FirewallD on CentOS 7, Ubuntu OS Review – What to Expect When Switching from Windows or macOS. Bei der Suche nach einem passenden Linux-System für einen nicht mehr taufrischen Rechner ist die Wahl des Desktops mitentscheidend. Enlightenment is a very eye-candy Linux desktop environment that is also lightweight resource use. Unlike other lightweight Linux distros on this list, however, Absolute doesn’t have a 32-bit variant as the operating system was specifically designed for 64-bit machines. We also cover the latest Linux news, games, software, hardware and much more. A few notable examples include web browsers like Firefox and Netrik, a word processor called Ted, an image editor known as Xpaint, an email client, Windows managers, text editors, and even an AOL-based instant messaging client known as Naim. Password Login – Good & Bad, Kali Linux 2020.3 Released With Bluetooth Arsenal in…, Ubuntu 20.04 “Focal Fossa” LTS Available To Download, AntiX – A Lightweight systemd-free Linux distribution for…, Ubuntu 20.04 + Depin — Perfect combination for…, Obarun – An Arch Based Linux Distro Without…, Plataro Master Icon Theme Install In Ubuntu 16.04, Adwaita-Grey 3.14.11 Theme Updated Install In Ubuntu, Nylas N1 – A Premium Email Client For Linux, Why Linux? The process is fairly simple and involves adding software packages on top of the core files, or removing them if needed. Linux plays an essential part in powering our modern world and can be surprisingly accessible if you know which distros to start with. „Linux Lite“ ist eine auf Ubuntu basierende Linux-Distribution, bei der Programme wie Firefox, der VLC Media Player, GIMP, Thunderbird und LibreOffice bereits vorinstalliert sind. @2020 - www.linuxandubuntu.com. ​LXDE/LXQt. Many of these distributions aren’t very old themselves but they have been specifically tweaked to run on what most people today would consider outdated hardware. I’ve been through several Linux CLI/intro trainings, but I haven’t yet tried it for daily use. That’s because there are a lot of lightweight Linux distros out there that don’t eat up a lot of resources and therefore, work perfectly fine on pretty much any computer. It’s probably best to stick with the base version if you’re a beginner but advanced users can modify Absolute Linux to their liking even before installing the OS. The project’s goal is to provide a lightweight yet functional Linux distribution based on a rock-solid Ubuntu base. This distro is a bit more demanding than some of the others we’ve discussed so far, but this is a complete operating system that includes all the apps you’ll ever need, and then some. As you might imagine, there are a couple of drawbacks to using a lightweight distro. MATE. This is the follow-up project of Robert Shingledecker, the developer who also brought us Damn Small Linux a while back. With that out of the way and in no particular order, let’s take a closer look at the best lightweight Linux distros of 2020. It is designed to be small, fast and fully compliant with a lot of standards. Neben dem Standarddesktop Gnome 3 … LXDE stands for lightweight X11 desktop environment which is yet another popular desktop environment for Unix-like systems. True to its name, this lightweight Linux distro is incredibly small, coming in at only around 50 MB in size. He also loves to write how-to articles, applications reviews and loves to use new Linux distributions. This version comes in at 16 MB and includes not just a command-line interface but also two types of graphical desktop environments to choose from – FLTK and FLWM. ​Did I leave out any lightweight distro? We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. In my experience Enlightenment is much lighter than openbox, and the gap between XFCE and openbox is not nearly as big as suggested here. Xfce is the default desktop environment in Xubuntu, Linux Lite, Uberstudent, Manjaro Linux and Blackbox. Do you own an old PC, like the ones that came with Windows XP? Alternatively, you can go with Porteus Kiosk if you need a secure operating system that you can take with you wherever you go. Written in the C language with the GTK+ library, LXDE is very good GUI to run on old computers, it is a component of many tools like PC… This project has been in development for over 14 years at this point and has been downloaded over 2 million times so you can bet Elive is as reliable as an operating system can get. Here are all of these lightweight Linux desktop environments. Arch Linux + Lightweight Desktop environment. These two variants are best suited for newer systems, however, they can still run on CPUs as old as Pentium 750. Despite the relatively large size, CorePlus doesn’t come with many apps right off the bat. It delivers a single panel at the bottom, a beautiful menu with several quick-launch icons, and a system tray in the bottom right corner. It is a package management utility that allows you to install and manage Python software packages easily. Unlike LXQt, you will find a lot of major Linux distributions support XFCE editions. But just because your old machine can no longer handle the hardware requirements of a modern OS, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s time to throw it away. The latest version of Absolute Linux takes up a little over 2 GB of space while the image size is just small enough to fill up a standard 700 MB CD. Porteus Kiosk restricts access to everything except its web browser, which is locked down by default to prevent users from downloading software or modifying any of its settings. The distro also features a built-in software center that allows you to download additional applications free of charge. In addition to Standard and Light, the distro is also available in a couple of other flavors, such as VectorLinux Live and VectorLinux SOHO (Small Office/Home Office). Damn Small Linux is a very versatile 50MB mini desktop oriented Lightweight Linux distribution. Linux Tails Review: Stay Safe and Anonymous Online, Top 10 Best and Most Accessible Linux Distros for Beginners, A Beginner’s Friendly Review of CentOS Linux, The Best Linux Distros for Laptops, Both Old and New. Lubuntu’s interface is based on LXQt, an open-source and lightweight desktop environment that requires far fewer resources than the Genome 3 environment found on regular Ubuntu. Combined with Sway you can build a fine minima workplace. Despite that, the desktop still manages to look very modern thanks to the Arc theme and Papirus icons. But there are times these fancy DEs won’t play nice with your hardware especially for old computers (ones that came with XP). If you happen to be on the look for a lightweight Linux distro for old computers, make sure to check out this previous article which looks at some popular lightweight Linux distros. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your particular system), the distro requires around 8 GB of storage space to run. Meanwhile, the fourth version is the most minimalistic one of all and allows users to only install the app packages they need, without any of the other bells and whistles. Your computer should have a 700 MHz single-core processor, 512 MB of RAM, and 8 GB of free storage space for its minimum system requirements. We encourage you to check out all of them. I fully agree on i3 being the most lightweight. Ok Read More. Most operating systems these days are meant to work hand in hand with modern hardware and Linux distros are no exception. Xfce is one of the most lightweight desktop environments out there. Thanks for your article. I was able to use my Pi as a keyboard/mouse server with synergy and it worked exceedingly well. iceWM is the default window manager/DE on Absolute Linux and Lightweight Portable Security. Main Features. Most distros are portable and can … Blackdown is your go-to place for quality Linux-related content. It is probably the least lightweight on the list but then, it gives more features and customization than almost all of the others. Can they be turned on? It is a Linux system, that uses the minimal desktop LXDE/LXQT, and a selection of light applications. At the same time, however, the operating system supports the Ubuntu software repository, giving users access to thousands of modern packages to play around with. Despite its name, Linux Lite is very close to a modern operating system in terms of its capabilities. You can use it on your less-pricey embedded board or salvaged computer. Casual users can keep things simple by sticking with the minimalistic version of VectorLinux that comes with a slick desktop environment along with web browsers, email client, instant messaging client, and other useful applications. Seit Ubuntu 17.10 ist GDM wieder Standard, lässt sich auf Wunsch aber durch LightDM ersetzen. * By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. you can’t get much lighter than i3, and i3 *can* with some work be configured to assume many tasks traditionally handled by a DE such as volume keys, even backlight levels can be managed. Lubuntu is an official Ubuntu flavor which uses the Lightweight Qt Desktop Environment (LXQt). This lightweight Linux distro even includes access to Steam, which now supports a plethora of Linux-based video games. While some of the other distros on this list can run without problems on fairly old systems, Damn Small Linux can be installed on completely ancient ones. You get a text editor, network connection manager, Terminal, and that’s about it. It is based on Ubuntu LTS, it’s lightweight and easy to use Linux distributions. The only real drawback of this lightweight Linux distro is that is hasn’t been updated in many years, as the lead developer went to work on a different project. The MATE(MATE Advanced Traditional Environment) desktop environment is a fork of GNOME 2. One of the best features of this lightweight Linux distro is that it’s being developed by a very dedicated team that usually launches a new version once very year. Despite requiring very few system resources, this lightweight Linux distro is very powerful and its Moksha desktop environment looks just as good as those of modern operating systems. While other operating systems can also get the job done pretty well, Linux is a more specialized OS that was…, If you are a fan of using Python programming language, you can make your life easier by using Python Pip. Bodhi Linux is an Ubuntu LTS-based lightweight release that features Moksha Desktop. All applications have been chosen for the best balance of functionality, size, and speed. It goes without saying that there’s no shortage of lightweight Linux distros to choose from. The base version of Absolute Linux comes with a pretty impressive variety of apps. Where does a lightweight Linux version cut me off from a possible goal? The Debian-based distribution is advertised as “maybe the best Linux OS ever made” and “probably the only distro you’ll stay with.” There are quite a few other catchy slogans like that on the distro’s home page, but is there any truth to them? Before you download Absolute Linux make sure that your system is compatible. It uses Xfce desktop but is not very light-weight, because it comes with a suite of software. Ubuntu MATE supports both 64-bit and 32-bit architectures and is compatible with a wide range of hardware ports, including Raspberry Pi. The operating system comes with more than 2,500 packages with robust integrations, unique designs, and plenty of special features. Desktop environment for all. Right out of the gate you get access to the Mozilla Firefox browser complete with built-in support for Netflix along with the popular VLC media player for running videos and music offline. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Lightweight distros don’t even have to be used on old hardware. Putting i3 alongside MATE is almost trivial, and I almost forgot I was even on a quad core ARM device. You can choose what you like. it can also be used to replace the WM component of XFCE, MATE, and LXQT, at least. If you are counting non-DE environments like IceWM, you should also include i3wm. Other times, you just need something that works without getting in the way. Linux Lite is based on Ubuntu LTS (Long Term Support) releases. The 5th lightweight Linux for old computers is Peppermint. XFCE Desktop. You can expect most of the apps that come with regular Ubuntu but as part of a smaller package that doesn’t eat up nearly as many resources. Given DSL’s extremely small size, it’s pretty safe to say the idea worked well. Perhaps even more interesting, DSL can even be booted from within a host operating system, including Windows-based ones. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. 10 Lightweight Linux Distros That Can Revive Your Old Hardware in 2020, The Best and Most Reliable Linux Server Distros of 2020. It is the default with Linux distributions such as  Knoppix, Lubuntu, LXLE Linux, Peppermint Linux OS. This lightweight Linux distro is made for especially lower power old machines and netbooks. Moksha is a continuation of the popular Enlightenment 17 environment that introduces new functionality while also removing bugs and unfinished features. Linux Lite is a fantastic lightweight operating system based on the popular Ubuntu distribution. MATE has been... 3. A few applications from the Standard edition are also included and you have the option of installing even more from the Open Source Lab repository. Because of this, Lubuntu has very low hardware requirements. Peppermint uses the LXDE desktop environment that is lightweight and easy to use. It is highly scriptable, has dozens of excellent features like multi-monitor support, workspace support, theme support, and is the ultimate power-user taskbar for Linux fans. We have another lightweight Linux-based operating system on this list that also happens to be based on Xfce: Zorin OS Lite. Bodhi Linux is available in four different flavors, each lighter than the last. Lubuntu used to run on an LXDE desktop until late 2018 so the switch to the more modern environment is fairly recent. Xfce and Mate ARE NOT lightweight but more middleweight DE. This lightweight Linux distro doesn’t come with the preinstalled software or packages. There are also well-known tools like System Monitor, Power Statistics, Disk Usage Analyzer, Dictionary, Pluma, and Engrampa, among others. This feature improves the speed of the system, which only has to worry about the activate applications. If you’re not a fan of Firefox, you can install Chrome instead and there’s no need to worry about email and cloud storage because Linux Lite comes with both Thunderbird and Dropbox. Porteus is a streamlined and lightweight Linux distro based on Slackware. There are two versions of this distro, which are aimed at 32-bit and 64-bit systems, respectively. This variant is similar to Standard but supports modern hardware and kernel updates. One of the other highlights of Porteus is its modular nature. While we wouldn’t go as far as to call Elive the best of the best, we will say that this is a very solid operating system that has a lot to offer. The installer comes in at around 1.5 GB so you won’t be able to fit it onto a regular CD but you can easily store it on a USB stick and boot it directly from the flash drive if you don’t want to download the installer to your hard drive. Like most of the distros on this list, the goal of Bodhi is to make old computers to feel new again. That’s not the case here. If you’re experienced enough and love to make amends and customize your system Arch Linux without a doubt is the best option for you.Making your operating system heavy or lightweight depends on your desktop environment. Lubuntu comes with a PDF reader, multimedia players, office applications, an image editor, and more. There’s no need to worry about outdated software here. The installation instructions for Elive are a bit more complicated than those of other lightweight Linux distros but you shouldn’t run into any issues if you follow the steps listed here. Instead, the distro comes with pre-compiled packages that you can freely activate or deactivate depending on your needs. Powered by, Passwordless Login Vs. The developers provide links to compatible package repositories on their website and there’s even a quick start guide for users who want to create their own customized distros. It is developed using C (GTK+) and C++ (Qt) with latest stable release on 2 November 2015. This version comes out of the box with Opera, which can act as your browser, email client and chat client. Unlike some of the other operating systems on our list, Linux Lite is particularly useful for Windows users who are preparing to finally switch from XP but aren’t quite ready to take on the more demanding Windows 7, let alone Windows 10. All of those are included with the base version of Ubuntu Mate but you can access the Software Boutique to download countless other applications in order to customize the OS to your specific needs. ExLight Linux distribution sees the light of day again after a long time sleeping with a new major release that promises a pure Debian experience with the latest kernel series and Enlightenment desktop environment. This can cause problems … Traditional Linux distributions feature a package manager that requires an internet connection to download various applications. A few other notable apps and tools include Skype, Kodi, Spotify, TeamViewer, the LibreOffice suite, a password manager, and more. Core weighs in at only 11 MB and doesn’t include much beyond a command-line interface and a few command-line tools to help you get started. The developers stress the fact that Elive is much more than just Debian paired with Enlightenment. However, you shouldn’t have any problems running the OS on a machine that came out sometime during the last decade. We also give value to other Linux distributions. Porteus takes up less than 300 MB of storage space and supports both 32 and 64-bit architectures, which makes it ideal not just for old systems but also for modern ones. Our ongoing mission is to make the transition from Windows to Linux Lite, as smooth as possible. The desktop environment looks great even in its base form but you can make it even better by installing one of the many themes supported by Moksha. Kindly share in the comments and share this article with your friends. You can use the Live CD for testing purposes. Ubuntu MATE is a very popular Linux distro that’s easy to recommend to novices and advanced users alike. As the name suggests Linux Lite is a lightweight Linux distro that does not need high-end hardware to run it. Bodhi Linux, a popular and lightweight Linux distro, earlier shipped with Enlightenment as the default desktop; now it uses an Enlightenment fork named Moksha desktop. Basically, you’ll need to use specific tools in order to create a bootable USB drive of Elive, otherwise, you may run into certain problems. This makes it an excellent choice for setting up web terminals, especially since Kiosk doesn’t save any passwords or browsing history. As far as we’re concerned, we like using distros that come out of the box with most of the basic applications you’ll find on modern systems. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jq4nl3i5AXI. Some of the highlights include Google Chrome, Google Earth, LibreOffice, Kodi, GIMP, Inkscape, Calibre, and more. Best idea from years I have seen. Thank you! Just as its name indicates, this is merely the core of an OS, which you can then build upon by installing additional applications and extensions on top. If you need a performance-centric desktop environment without needing advanced customizations, Xfce is a great choice to go with. Lubuntu can itself be considered a very modern distro considering it is based on Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Kernel 5.00. Ubuntu MATE requires at least 8 GB of storage space so it’s not quite as lightweight as some of the other distros on this list and won’t work on completely ancient systems. While both versions are technically designed for older computers, the Light edition is particularly adept at breathing new life into outdated hardware. Despite its small size, the distro comes equipped with a pretty impressive array of applications.