[Review]Xubuntu Feisty
Re-buntu:-The reviewing distro
Finally a distro that beats ubuntu. Hold your breath and witness the miracle
So which one is it? This is a distro that’s been released along with ubuntu 5.10(no it’s not Kubuntu). Though many know about it is seldom used. Ok lets cut the suspense it’s Xubuntu-7.04. No don’t close the page read the review to find out why it really beats Ubuntu.
Why the hell did I even try out Xubuntu?
Well I needed to install it on a pretty old system(Pentium-3 700Mhz and 256Mb RAM. So what better than the good old XCFE desktop. While puppy(an 90mb distro using XCFE) misbehaved on this system, Xubuntu did not. It worked like a charm although with slow startup time but still very user friendly.
Installation
Installation wasn’t a complete breeze.Even though it has the same 7 step procedure as Ubuntu there is a small installation bug. The fix is found here .
Apart from that there was no problem at all.
The Desktop
The splash screen is the ubuntu logo with a rat in the center. The whole distro sports a blue look which makes it look really great. The login window is designed to perfection. Here is a picture of the desktop
The file manager is thunar which bears close resemblance with nautililus
The default theme is pretty decent but it comes with a large number of themes each one better than the other. Here’s the theme manager
One thing I liked about Xubuntu is the right-click(Yeah! That’s right the right click). While some like the right click menu others donot. So which one does Xubuntu have.
One can actually choose if one want’s right click menu or not. Pretty good option right. The second thing I liked is the settings manager which is similar to Dsl’s panel.
Xubuntu comes with a terminal.
Abiword and Gnumeric(spreadsheet) for office
It comes with Mozilla Firefox for a internet browser
It comes with gxine for audio/video but cannot play mp3 out of the box.
Most other aplications are the ones that come with ubuntu, but where it shines is more customizability. There are a lot of options for configuring your system.
Only problem I had was taking screen shots.For which I had to install the software and printscreen button didnot do anything even after installing the software. The program had to be run to take screen shots.
Pimpin’ it up
The default Xubuntu theme is pretty good but it can be made much better.
First select the theme that you like.Then open settings manager and select user interface. Here there are window decorators like keramik plastic redmond etc(similar to Kubuntu). Select the one you like. Here we choose dusk giving it a black look.
Next put your favourite wallpaper to match your new theme.
Next one needs to add desklets to improve the functionality.
Open a terminal and type sudo apt-get install gdesklets
This installs gdesklets. Start the gdesklets and add the desklets you want.
You can also create a new panel and add your favourite programs to it.
Heres a picture of the final desktop
Final Thoughts
Xubuntu definitely beats ubuntu 7.04, though I am yet to compare 7.10 versions of both, I am pretty happy with this one and find no reason to shift. I would suggest everyone to atleast try the live cd of this distro. Watch this space for more great reviews of Linux distro’s.
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Nice review. The user’s opinion makes for an accurate analysis of Xubuntu and has the effect of enticing the reader into trying it out. Nice review, well supported by screenshots and pertinent details.
Yea,the devil helped him write it
I have been using Xubuntu for at least a year now. I have Ubuntu, Kubuntu and Edubuntu desktops all installed on the same machine. When I get bored I switch back and forth between xfce gnome and kde.
However most of the time I am on XFCE4 (Xubuntu). Not only is it quick to boot but it is very stable. I find the other window managers have too many features and are distracting … a personal taste evaluation.
But when I get tired and need to do more development work … I switch to KDE or Gnome or IceWM or Blackbox. Just such a change wakes you up and is refreshing. This is the wonderful thing about open source … there is no need to choose one interface. We can change the user interface with our changing moods.
Great review for my favourite desktop.
I do microcontroller designs for hydrogen fuel cell operation right now. For some work I need chip programming (Microchip) windows-based tools which run very nicely in Virtual Box under virtual XP. I like Xubuntu in particular for the small amount of CPU power it takes which makes my Virtual box run better than with either Gnome or KDE.
The rest of the time for business correspondence, email and browsing I am on Linux with OpenOffice, Thunderbird mail and Firefox … all default Xubuntu applications.
Ian
Thanks for your valuble comment.
I too liked Xubuntu a lot. Its really the has the best User Interface.