Mint Linux with Fluxbox Desktop – the best OS for Netbooks?
In this article I described how to install Mint Linux8 (Helena) on the Acer Aspire One.
As standard Mint Linux comes supplied with the Gnome Desktop which provides a stylish, easy to use and configurable user Interface, and one which puts the Windows XP experience to shame.
However on the humble Acer Aspire One sometimes Mint Linux 8 is a bit laggy, although using the Opera Browser rather the Firefox assists the web browsing experience.
There are other versions of Mint Linux available which use different desktop environments and one of them is the Fluxbox desktop.
Fluxbox is a lite desktop environment, which means that it’s less complex then heavier desktops and may be missing some of the more advanced functionality, eg you cant grab screen shots with a button press, but it makes up for it with speed, and the Fluxbox version of Mint Linux flies, it’s even quicker to use then Linpus.
It is a little less stylish to use then Mint with Gnome, eg there isn’t a menu button to access applications, the program menu is access through a right click on desktop, but both versions of mint run the same applications.
The table below shows a comparison of the usability and functionality of the 3 types of Linux I’ve tested recently with my scoring:
| Linpus (default of AA1) | Mint Linux (Gnome) | Mint Linux (Fluxbox) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ease of General Use | 8 – Simple to use interface | 8 – Nice interface similar to most professional OS's | 7 – Slightly restricted interface |
| Ease to Software Installation | 3 – There's a need to activate the advanced menu. Most new applications tricky to install. | 8 – Synaptic Package manager & Ubuntu Compatibility | 8 – Synaptic Package manager & Ubuntu Compatibility |
| Range of Software | 7 – Based ona old version of Fedora so becoming limited | 9 – Everything you can need | 9 – Everything you can need |
| Ease of Customisation | 3 – Interface not designed to be customised | 8 – Built to be costomisable | 7 – Install your own software but interface is rigid |
| System & Application Speed | 8 - Quick | 6 – some aplications run on slow side | 9 – Lite desktop means system is speedy. |
| Total | 29 | 39 | 40 |
If you are looking with a really quick operating system for your Netbook and are looking for more flexibility then the original linpus then checkout the Fluxbox version of Mint Linux
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