Fastest OS

[torquemasterice]

Hi again,

I posted a topic previously asking which OS people think is the best. I've settled that it's definitely windows 7.
However, I obviously can't run 7 on an older computer due to lack of hardware.
Now, on a PC with limited hardware, the obvious choice would be xp. My laptop has a good processer, but only 512 ram and 64 on-board vga. I hate xp. I hear around the net that linux is faster than windows. If I had to choose a substitute for win 7 it would be mandriva 2010, which looks great.

Now if I was going for pure speed, which linux would I choose?
The most popular is Ubuntu.

Please note that I am a windows user and am not used to linux thus it must be relatively simple. It seems that the best so far is openSUSE for speed and simplicity. What do you think???

[Josh]

Sorry for the late response, torquemasterice, been a little busy to put it mildly

To tell you the truth, I'm not a big Linux guy. However, have you tried Linux Mint? Seems to be getting pretty popular, although I haven't tried it personally. I do plan on checking it out when I get some extra time.

You could always strip down your XP installation as well. Disable unneeded services, start-up programs, theme support, etc. That should have it running nicely on your old machine. Or, use nLite to modify the installation files before installing XP. See here for an example.

[torquemasterice]

Yeah I've done that to my xp already. I downloaded an xp sp3 peformance edition and checked out what was differant. I then used that information and my own small tweaks to help speed up the pc. I set everything to max performance except for battery life. I also run regular maintanance on it(defrag and disk cleaning etc). However, like you, I am a windows guy, but was wondering whether it was worth it to swictch one pc(laptop) to linux.

Is mint faster than xp? If so I will use mint, however please note that my version of xp has nothing but the core parts needed to run. I only use it for videos and document editing, maybe the occasional browsing. Xp or mint?

[Josh]

I'm not sure whether it would be faster on your rig than XP or not. You could always perform a benchmark on the two operating systems and find out

Also, remember that you can always try Linux Mint as a virtual machine. The free VirtualBox is great for this. You can download Linux Mint 8 "Helena" here. The user guide is here. There's no hurt to test it out and I think you'll like it



In fact, I'm going to play with it later tonight if time permits.

[torquemasterice]

Whoo the new theme is awesome!!!

I really don't have the patience to actually test them out. The thing is, I have stripped down my xp, and now it looks terrible but runs quite well on slow machines. Now linux mint looks way better than xp and just a little less than vista/7. Thus I doubt it being faster than a stripped down xp. I don't need to tesat the os so a VM is not necessary(there's the live cd too). If there is a version of Linux that is for pure performance, i.e. looks like crap but runs like a dream, please let me know. Otherwise i'll stick to xp.

PS I am not a linux user so it should be ugly but user friendly!!

PS2 Do you know of a good preset for nlite that i can download from somewhere? I want to see if i missed any tweaks. Also any hot fixes ans stuff i can use with nlite, please provide the links.

Thanks a lot

[Josh]

Whoo the new theme is awesome!!!

Glad you like it!

I really don't have the patience to actually test them out. The thing is, I have stripped down my xp, and now it looks terrible but runs quite well on slow machines. Now linux mint looks way better than xp and just a little less than vista/7. Thus I doubt it being faster than a stripped down xp. I don't need to tesat the os so a VM is not necessary(there's the live cd too). If there is a version of Linux that is for pure performance, i.e. looks like crap but runs like a dream, please let me know. Otherwise i'll stick to xp.

I asked around a little bit and a couple of the Linux guys I know recommended Dreamlinux Desktop Edition 3.5 XFCE for speed. They also recommended ubuntu which you're already familiar with.

Do you know of a good preset for nLite that i can download from somewhere? I want to see if i missed any tweaks. Also any hot fixes ans stuff i can use with nLite, please provide the links.

I did a search for presets and didn't find much, except for a couple custom presets for netbooks which may or may not work in your case. I'd be happy to make one for you, but it really depends on what Windows programs you use, what services you need, etc.

As for grabbing the latest hotfixes to integrate with nLite, you can get them here (make sure to slipstream SP3 first!). Grab your driverpacks here and nLite addons here.

[torquemasterice]

Dude, you are awesome. Thanks a lot. Got exactly what i needed. If there aren't any presets that's cool, I can manage, I just wanted to see if i missed anything. The linux seems good, will have to test it out on my laptop, but i don't think it's worth it till i upgrade my ram. Anyhow, will stick to xp for now.(windows rules )

PS. Just so you know, I'm removing vista from my desktop and running solely 7 now. NO-ones gonna buy a pc with vista on it right???

[Josh]

NO-ones gonna buy a pc with vista on it right???

Sure they will. After all, it's easy enough to put another OS on it

[torquemasterice]

Well i suppose... Then again, no one who knows how to install an os is gonna buy a 3 year old pc with a celeron. So my buyer will have to make do with what i give em. Will have to emphasize on the 4gigs of ram and 512 vga. Worst thing is, I'm not selling it now, but in another 6-7 months

Aw well, as long as I get a bit for it, I can use it as upgrades on my new pc.

[Josh]

I'd sell it on eBay. Someone will buy it...