General Computer Chat v2.0

[Hybrid Trainer]

If you want lightweight... What about Tiny Core?

It's the most minimalistic functional GUI desktop you will ever find.

I've never actually heard of that one? What's it like?

Recently, Ubuntu changed to an interface called "Unity"... I personally don't like it, but it is the lesser of the evils when you compare it to Metro and GNOME 3 Shell. Linux Mint on the other hand, recently modified the crap out of GNOME 3 so that it was still the newer API and it acts a lot more like what most Linux users are used to. It is also quite infamous for setting everything up for you. It's interface is much more Windows-like by default than most distributions.

I tried using a plain old gnome 3 desktop the other day. I was complete lost... it's pretty and everything but I had no idea how to do anything. Plus the gestures had a nastey habbit of getting stuck. Like the plugin bar I.

 

[Legendary Silke]

Seems like I'm going to stick with what I know the most and best, which in this case is Windows 7. :)

 

[Archenoth]

I've never actually heard of that one? What's it like?

Really really low overhead, boots ridiculously fast, and has a minimalistic X desktop that has a decent amount of tools... If you have VMWare, you can give it a shot. :)

Hell, you don't even need to give the VM a hard drive, just make sure it has at least 64MB RAM and that it boots the ISO. This is a VM that you could run on a computer that has less than a 500MHz processor, so don't worry about having ancient technology. :P

I tried using a plain old gnome 3 desktop the other day. I was complete lost... it's pretty and everything but I had no idea how to do anything. Plus the gestures had a nastey habbit of getting stuck. Like the plugin bar I.

That would be the evil "GNOME Shell"... GNOME 3 has 2 modes, one of them is called "GNOME Shell", which is what you tried, the other is "Fallback Mode" which is like a prettier, but less functional GNOME 2. Linux Mint made GNOME Shell more like Fallback in a way, but better.

 

[Legendary Silke]

Really really low overhead, boots ridiculously fast, and has a minimalistic X desktop that has a decent amount of tools... If you have VMWare, you can give it a shot. :)

Hell, you don't even need to give the VM a hard drive, just make sure it has at least 64MB RAM and that it boots the ISO. This is a VM that you could run on a computer that has less than a 500MHz processor, so don't worry about having ancient technology. :P

Teehee~ OK, now downloading it to try it out in a VM first. It's just 11.9 MB for the ISO itself O.o

Then again, I have heard that the Windows NT kernel in its Windows 7 incarnation is actually ridiculously light when you don't run everything else, including the GUI...

 

[Archenoth]

Cool... I will warn you though, it doesn't have much for an interface. (Though it's a pretty good one for 12MB and considering all the stuff it has included.)

It even has a package manager. :D

And yes, the NT Kernel is a microkernel... So it has to be lightweight... But it needs a lot of additional programs to do even basic things.

Tis the nature of microkernels.

 

[Archer]

Upgrade time!

I just managed to unlock some of the shaders on my graphics card to turn my AMD 6950 to a 6970. It's much harder on the 1GB model.

Just in time to drive my new screen. 27" 2560x1440 resolution. Games are just so crisp and clear. :D

 

[Legendary Silke]

Upgrade time!

I just managed to unlock some of the shaders on my graphics card to turn my AMD 6950 to a 6970. It's much harder on the 1GB model.

Just in time to drive my new screen. 27" 2560x1440 resolution. Games are just so crisp and clear. :D

Does that bring out any meaningful increase?

*realizes that he is stuck with a 9800 GTX+*

Sooner or later my card's going to hit minspec territory :(

 

[Archer]

Does that bring out any meaningful increase?

*realizes that he is stuck with a 9800 GTX+*

Sooner or later my card's going to hit minspec territory :(

About 10-15%, but I'm now driving about 1.8x the pixels, so I'll take all of the performance that I can get.

 

[Legendary Silke]

About 10-15%, but I'm now driving about 1.8x the pixels, so I'll take all of the performance that I can get.

Hmm... Well, I do hope that it does end up well for you. Me, I'm going to be stuck with this aging 9800 GTX+ for another few years. I think it's getting really close to minimum spec territory at this point, to be honest. And it just can't do 1080p gaming well (and my monitor's resolution is that), so I have to settle with non-native resolutions with newer games.

 

[quilzel]

I wish I had gotten a graphics card when I build my computer, I'm on Intel's HD Graphics 2000.

 

[Legendary Silke]

I wonder whether Intel IGPs are OK these days, just like Norton anything. :p

Also: Seriously, Internet Explorer users like me get no respect here. :(

 

[donavannj]

Intel's integrated graphics have been terrible for years.

 

[Legendary Silke]

I think even NVIDIA IGPs are light years ahead, tbh abiut it.

 

[Archer]

I think even NVIDIA IGPs are light years ahead, tbh abiut it.

Nvidia doesn't really make IGPs for computers any more. They're doing discrete PC graphics and tablet graphics.

Intel's integrated graphics have been terrible for years.

Actually the HD3000 and Ivy-Bridge's GPU are fairly good. Not at the same level as dedicated, but enough for basic games.

Norton anything. :p

Also: Seriously, Internet Explorer users like me get no respect here. :(

Funnily enough, Norton Internet Security 2012 and IE9 are snappy and effective. Thumbs up from me.

Hmm... Well, I do hope that it does end up well for you. Me, I'm going to be stuck with this aging 9800 GTX+ for another few years. I think it's getting really close to minimum spec territory at this point, to be honest. And it just can't do 1080p gaming well (and my monitor's resolution is that), so I have to settle with non-native resolutions with newer games.

Non-native is horrible :P Save up your cash and get a Nvidia GTX 560.

 

[Legendary Silke]

Funnily enough, Norton Internet Security 2012 and IE9 are snappy and effective. Thumbs up from me..

*meanwhile, his blog post is getting messed up*

Non-native is horrible :P Save up your cash and get a Nvidia GTX 560.

I think the saved up cash is going to be headed for a tablet. :( I noticed that I can't get away with just my phone and laptop.

 

[twocows]

Ubuntu's interface just doesn't go along with me. You know you're in a bit of a bind when your interface just doesn't work. Mixing Windows 7 and OS X is probably one of the worst things that you can do. :P

Lubuntu is Ubuntu without GNOME/Trinity and with LXDE, it's pretty awesome. I might set it up on a laptop once the LTS is out in a month or so.

 

[Hybrid Trainer]

Lubuntu is Ubuntu without GNOME/Trinity and with LXDE, it's pretty awesome. I might set it up on a laptop once the LTS is out in a month or so.

Or you could try Xubuntu. It's similar to Lubuntu only it uses the xfce desktop interface. I find it's more similar to Ubuntu than Lubuntu.

 

[twocows]

Or you could try Xubuntu. It's similar to Lubuntu only it uses the xfce desktop interface. I find it's more similar to Ubuntu than Lubuntu.

LXDE is a new project, and Lubuntu is even newer. I'm a fan of LXDE and I'd like to see the project get more development. I think the minimalist approach is a good one, especially for a system like Linux which is supposed to be "get only the packages YOU want." Of course, I'm biased, seeing as how it's my DE of choice on any system.

Xubuntu is nice, it kind of reminds me of a lightweight GNOME 2, but I really do prefer LXDE, which comes with only what you need and lets you handle the rest.

 

[Legendary Silke]

Tiiiiiiiime to change the topic :)

Now, I wonder how you guys partition your hard disk drives? I'm a bit lazy when it comes to that so I just keep everything on the same partition (aside from the one Windows 7 creates as a boot partition)

 

[Archer]

Tiiiiiiiime to change the topic :)

Now, I wonder how you guys partition your hard disk drives? I'm a bit lazy when it comes to that so I just keep everything on the same partition (aside from the one Windows 7 creates as a boot partition)

For a single-drive system, I just use one partition. My current desktop, however has a more complex setup.

OS: Corsair Force 115GB SSD - "Corsair F115"
Games: 2x Hitachi 7200 rpm Drives in RAID0 - "Hitachi Stripe"
Storage: WD Caviar Black 1TB - "WD Black"