Those who are used to using Windows, for convenience, out of habit or for real appreciation, can feel in difficulty if they use an older computer or a cheap notebook. The fact is that Windows does not have a light version while there are leaner and less heavy versions of Linux that can resurrect old PCs and give power to computers that suffer from the heaviness of Windows, especially of the latest Windows Vista and Windows 7.
At the same time Lubuntu (LXDE), one of the best Linux systems of the light type, based on Ubuntu was also released.
Lubuntu is a complete operating system with a desktop that uses very few computer resources (CPU and memory), maintaining the same ease of use even for those who have never seen Linux.
Looking at Wikipedia it turns out that Lubuntu uses half of the RAM occupied by Xubuntu and offers all the basic functionalities expected from a computer.
I had already spoken briefly about Lubuntu when I wrote a list of the best light and fast Linux operating systems and it is worth deepening the discussion.
Lubuntu is Ubuntu (updated to Ubuntu latest version) with LXDE desktop as the main interface.
If this abbreviation LXDE says nothing, the best way is to look at the images of the LXDE site to see what the desktop looks like.
The panel is also similar to Windows XP, with a menu button, some shortcuts and the clock and a dock on the right.
Linux experts will notice a similarity to the old Gnome-style interface.
The desktop includes icons and the main interface of the explorer is quite classic, not far from Windows and Ubuntu.
The graphic aspect of Lubuntu, however, can be changed from the desktop settings.
What is more important is the lightness of Lubuntu, an operating system developed specifically to revalue older PCs, those with 500 MB of RAM or those Netbooks that suffer from the heaviness of Windows or that are limited with versions such as Windows Starter.
Some advanced functions may be missing but there is everything you need, with many applications for the basic functions of a computer.
As soon as Lubuntu is installed then you will find programs already included such as:
AbiWord for writing documents, Audacious for listening to music and MPlayer for viewing videos, Chrome and Firefox as browser, Evince as PDF reader and Gnumeric is the spreadsheet (Excel type).
Then there are other open source programs: Mtpaint, Pidgin, Synaptic, Transimission, XChat and others.
You can download Lubuntu for free (freely) from the official Lubuntu.net website, in the form of an ISO image to burn to CD.
The installation is painless and has a very linear guided procedure in which you can also choose the Italian language.
I believe that Lubuntu, at the moment, is the best complete operating system (not for emergencies and not to use the computer only on the internet) that it can be used on an old PC or on an underpowered netbook.
Alternatively, however, you can install another Linux distro, among the best light and fast portable operating systems
