I'm looking for advice on a suitable Linux distribution for my ALLDOCUBE i1506s laptop. It has an Intel N95 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 500 GB HDD. I stopped using Windows 11 after a month because it was really slow for my needs. Currently, I'm using Linux Mint with XFCE, but I'm not satisfied as there are many issues and I'm faced with outdated packages because of the Ubuntu base. I'd prefer a non-Ubuntu based Linux distro that can run well on my hardware. I'm not very experienced with Linux yet, so I'd like to avoid complicated distros like Arch or Gentoo. I mainly use the laptop for web browsing, YouTube, Reddit, some light text editing for schoolwork, and extremely light gaming, like browser games.
5 Answers
You should check out the distro selection page in our wiki! It has tons of great resources. Also remember to take regular backups and test things out in a VM before jumping in!
MX Linux AHS is a solid choice as well. It's lightweight and offers both XFCE and KDE versions, so you can pick whichever desktop environment you prefer.
I'd recommend giving Fedora with KDE a shot. Check out the 'Fedora 42 post-install guide' on GitHub for some helpful tweaks to optimize your experience. It runs pretty well on lower-end hardware.
Isn't there a minimum requirement for 2.0 GHz though? That might be pushing it.
Have you thought about using Manjaro? Just make sure to set up Timeshift eventually to keep track of your system changes!
Really? Manjaro? I thought that could be a bit tricky for beginners.
Pop!_OS is a good option too. Even though it's based on Ubuntu, their new Cosmic desktop environment is set to release soon, which promises to be faster and more stable. It might fit your needs really well!
I know you mentioned avoiding Ubuntu, but sometimes it's hard to find anything truly independent.
Great advice! Always good to be cautious with new distros.