Choosing a Streamlined Linux without Sacrificing Features

[captain_juno]

I'm trying to find a distro that is not bloated but does not lose its look. I'm thinking something like maybe Xubuntu, Gentoo, or Slackware, but I'm not too familiar with the latter two. Or, should I go with an alternative windows manager such as Fluxbox or Blackbox? I'm interested in general computing and some gaming (Enemy Territory: Quake Wars is calling my name, I believe).

[jayd512]

Hello and Welcome!

Yeah, Xubuntu is a pretty good choice for something that'll run well without taking all of your resources. It will also come loaded with most of the apps you're going to need/want for basic usage. As far as choosing an alternative WM, Xubuntu's default is Xfce, which is pretty nice. But there are others. Personally, I'm a big fan of IceWM. It's sleek and sharp. Not to mention lightning fast! Let us know which one you go with!

Again, Welcome!

[captain_juno]

Hello and Welcome!

Personally, I'm a big fan of IceWM. It's sleek and sharp. Not to mention lightning fast!

On IceWM's site, it says "Usable with GNOME and KDE environments." Does this mean that it would not work if I had Xubuntu? Also, would something like IceWM or Fluxbox or another WM be faster than Xfce? One thing I like about Linux is most distros are pretty fast and don't have all the crap running in the background like Windows but I know some distros or WM's are better than others. I'd like to stick with Xubuntu or Ubuntu because they are easy to upgrade but I'm wondering if I should use a different WM and what it should be.

[jayd512]

IceWM would work for you, and it's a snap to configure. And at this point, I'm running Fedora 8 on an old dinosaur, and GNOME was killing the resources. I loaded IceWM and haven't looked back. But as far as figuring out which one to use, the best advise I can offer is to try a few out and see which one you like. Check out this site for some more in depth info on them.