KDE vs. LXDE

[aaron444]

Hello, I recently decided to switch to PClinuxOS on my old 2003 dell laptop. I have always either run Windows or Mac OS x so I am new to the linux os. I was wondering if I could run KDE on the Laptop or if I should just use LXDE? I was hesitant with LXDE because it seems to have less programs, and capabilities. Thanks   

[T6]

hello and welcome

kde4 is the heaviest desktop available for linux at the moment, it will perform well or slow depending on your hardware specs, specially video card, ram and cpu

can you post your system specs?

about the amount of apps in lxde, in pclinux we use a app called synaptic package manager, it allows you to install more apps from a list of apps in a repository, many popular apps you know are there, others probably will be completely new to you but some time playing around will give you good surprises

another option for your pc could be xfce4 or e17 but first the specs

[kc1di]

We would need to know a little more about that machine.  how much ram cpu speed etc.

But my initial thought would be you can do just as much with LXDE  it won't have as much eye candy though.

I ran some test recently and LXDE was best as far a resources used or should I say not used , ram for instance KDE used 320 MB with very few processes running in the back ground compared to LXDE at about 198 MB.  Gnome was about 254 MB ,XFCE4 228MB  I didn't test e17 or openbox.

In any event welcome to Linux and PCLOS you have come to the right place to start.

[aaron444]

   Ok the Ram is only 512 Mb. The CPU is 2.00 GHz and the intel card is a 82845g Graphics Controller size of only 64 mb. I would probably do better with several flash drives and a screen.

[uncleV]

You could estimate how they will run by booting with the LiveCDs.

[kc1di]

 Ok the Ram is only 512 Mb. The CPU is 2.00 GHz and the intel card is a 82845g Graphics Controller size of only 64 mb. I would probably do better with several flash drives and a screen.

With your setup LXDE would make a great desktop. Gnome would be  Ok KDE most likely very slow.

you might want to give E-17 a try also.  

XFCE would run pretty well too.
other than that it's personal preference.
Cheers!

[aaron444]

Sounds like LXDE is the way to go then. Are there any advantages of E-17 or XFCE over LXDE though? I have read that LXDE has less glitches or holdups.

[scoundrel]

Sounds like LXDE is the way to go then. Are there any advantages of E-17 or XFCE over LXDE though? I have read that LXDE has less glitches or holdups.

I'd go with LXDE on that 512 ram .. use it myself on most of my machines and it runs great

[T6]

or put more ram to use kde4, cpu is fine for that

choosing between lxde, xfce, e17 and gnome i would choose e17 or gnome but this is a personal opinion

[daniel]

I like my lxde, very fast, and small, simple to use, my opinion 

[Archie]

my personal choice would either be e17 or lxde

[fredbird67]

LXDE would be good of course, although I personally prefer Xfce myself.  I have a desktop box around here with 512 MB of RAM on it too, and I have PCLOS Phoenix (the Xfce version) plus Enlightenment on there (I've tried LXDE but I really don't care for it -- I'm too hooked on eye candy! LOL).  It was from that same computer that I created a custom ISO using MyLiveCD, which I installed onto a 4GB flash drive I always carry with me.  The PCLOS installation I have on that flash drive runs just fine on my wife's laptop, which also has 512 MB of RAM (she insists on using Windows XP on it, which is installed to the hard drive -- I still have yet to convert her to Linux LOL).

On only half a gig of RAM, I would concur with what everyone else on here has said -- KDE will be S-L-O-W on that thing.  GNOME would probably run at a comfortable speed, but I'd really recommend going with one of the lighter versions, such as Xfce, LXDE, Openbox, or Enlightenment.

[aaron444]

Thanks very much. So am I looking at burning a live CD or is there another type of download? At this point I really don't care what happens to the computer so basically what is the easiest way to install?

[kc1di]

the easiest way will be to download the most current ISO from here of the version you choose.
and Burn it and try it . then if you like install.

http://www.pclinuxos.com/

[T6]

you can also create a liveusb version but is more simple to have a cd-rw and the iso you want to test