Linux Mint or OpenSUSE?

[karlo]

Hello,

As of now I'm trying to reformat a friend's laptop. It's an old one. Sony VAIO, with a 512 MB of RAM, Intel Pentium 4 3 Ghz with an 80 GB of hard drive. ATI video card I think.

The user is just someone who access Facebook, Yahoo! Messenger and a bit of Skype.
Most of the time, the user plays a game called Slot Machine from Slot Plus Casino. It's
a free game that simulates a Slot Machine game with virtual betting stuff.

Now, I hate Ubuntu because of the Unity thing. I did some research. Linux Mint and OpenSUSE.
Apparently, I'm confused. Linux Mint has KDE and GNOME as well as OpenSUSE.

Which of the two (Linux Mint vs. OpenSUSE) will I install and will I use KDE or GNOME?
What's the default Desktop Environment that comes with Linux Mint and OpenSUSE?
Which is better KDE or GNOME?

The user is really used to Windows XP. I can't use Windows 7 because the DVD drive isn't working properly.
It can't read DVDs but CDs are okay. I also can't install Windows 7 via Network Installation.

I don't know how to do a Network Installation of Windows 7. I only have 2 laptops (mine) with Windows 7 installed.

Anyway I'm waiting for everyone's reply. As of now, I'm burning Windows XP into a CD-R.

[cynwulf]

Hello,

As of now I'm trying to reformat a friend's laptop. It's an old one. Sony VAIO, with a 512 MB of RAM, Intel Pentium 4 3 Ghz with an 80 GB of hard drive. ATI video card I think.

It's not bad but the memory is going to be the system bottleneck, regardless of what the graphics card turns out to be.

The user is just someone who access Facebook, Yahoo! Messenger and a bit of Skype.
Most of the time, the user plays a game called Slot Machine from Slot Plus Casino. It's
a free game that simulates a Slot Machine game with virtual betting stuff.

There is a GNU/Linux skype client but it's well behind the windows release and can be a resource hog. If skype is going to be one of the main usages then windows would be a better option - skype is after all an MS subsidiary now. There are free and open source alternatives to skype but they're not skype compatible.

Now, I hate Ubuntu because of the Unity thing. I did some research. Linux Mint and OpenSUSE.
Apparently, I'm confused. Linux Mint has KDE and GNOME as well as OpenSUSE.

There's nothing confusing there - but why have you narrowed it down to those two distributions and desktop environments?

Which of the two (Linux Mint vs. OpenSUSE) will I install and will I use KDE or GNOME?
What's the default Desktop Environment that comes with Linux Mint and OpenSUSE?
Which is better KDE or GNOME?

I'm afraid that's all apples and oranges, you would have to try them for yourself. Most major distros are now making the switch to gnome 3 which if you disliked unity you may also dislike. Both KDE and gnome 3 require decent hardware - on that hardware it's not going to happen...

Instead I would recommend Xfce.

I would not recommend Mint for various reasons the most relevant to you being that it will be sluggish as hell on that system.

[karlo]

There is a GNU/Linux skype client but it's well behind the windows release and can be a resource hog. If skype is going to be one of the main usages then windows would be a better option - skype is after all an MS subsidiary now. There are free and open source alternatives to skype but they're not skype compatible.

The latest Skype for Linux was release last year. so I think it's still okay.

Is there a Yahoo! Messenger for Linux?

There's nothing confusing there - but why have you narrowed it down to those two distributions and desktop environments?

It's because I tried Ubuntu and I hate Unity.
I know there are a lot of distros but what I need is something that has a lot of apps.

I would not recommend Mint for various reasons the most relevant to you being that it will be sluggish as hell on that system.

Well example you installed Mint or OpenSUSE with a different desktop environment, you can definitely change it later and make that change permanent, right?

[MASONTX]

With 512 mb ram, you will find Ubuntu, Mint, and Opensuse with KDE or gnome runs slow. Instead try the LXDE or XFCE desktop. I find the LXDE to be more resource friendly, but try both and see which you prefer. Lubuntu is the LXDE version of ubuntu, and Mint also has an LXDE version available.

[karlo]

With 512 mb ram, you will find Ubuntu, Mint, and Opensuse with KDE or gnome runs slow. Instead try the LXDE or XFCE desktop. I find the LXDE to be more resource friendly, but try both and see which you prefer. Lubuntu is the LXDE version of ubuntu, and Mint also has an LXDE version available.

What's the LXDE version of Linux Mint? What's the name of it? Is there an LXDE version of OpenSUSE?

[MASONTX]

You can download lxde from:http://lxde.org/download. General info can be found:LXDE - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. For linux mint lxde:The Linux Mint Blog » Blog Archive » Linux Mint 11 LXDE released!. For OpenSuse lxde: LXDE - openSUSE. You can go to distrowatch.com and do a search for distro's with LXDE, or any other desktop, and it will show you all the available options. Explore and have fun.

[Doug McGarrett]

A quick look at Google says that Vaio ram is upgradable. I didn't go further, because I don't know the actual model number,
but you should at the very least be able to go to 1 GB, and more likely two, which will run any Linux nicely. Ram is quite
cheap lately. I think KDE has a more familiar interface for a Windows user. For what the laptop user is doing, there really
is no reason not to install XP. I'm given to believe you don't even have to register it anymore. (I personally like XP better than 7, but I use 7 because it has more capability and software. Obviously I also use Linux--most of the time, in fact. And
I prefer KDE in PCLinuxOS.)

--doug

[khildin]

I don't really understand why you want to choose between Mint and OpenSuSE. I mean, why those 2 and not another? Seeing the configuration of your laptop, I would choose a lighter desktop than KDE or Gnome.
And LXDE desktop might be too simple, but a desktop based on XFCE probably will fit just fine.

Also Enlightenment desktop is very light and has some good looks. Have a look at Bodhilinux.com
Finally, the suggestion to find a mem expansion module is probably the best investment for your laptop. The processor has enough capabilities to run any linux distro, but your memory is obviously the bottleneck.

[highlandham]

QUOTE=========

As of now I'm trying to reformat a friend's laptop. It's an old one. Sony VAIO, with a 512 MB of RAM, Intel Pentium 4 3 Ghz with an 80 GB of hard drive.

UNQUOTE=======

Having a similar laptop eg Medion with P4-2.4GHz ,512MB , I happily run it with Lubuntu 10.4 ;yesterday there was another large update download .
With the LXDE desktop any distro will run well on such a machine ; Lubuntu and Linux Mint are my preferences.
The above hardware will likely struggle with the full KDE or GNOME desktop .

Frank in northern Scotland

[enfield]

This laptop I'm on now is an 8 year old Dell, running Debian Squeeze with Gnome 2. Debian is kind to older equipment.