Xubuntu

What hackers pick instead

• UbuntuA mainstream Linux distro that mostly just works on lots of hardware, suits beginners and offers long LTS support, though critics dislike Snaps and Canonical's direction.560recommend
• DebianA community-run, free Linux distribution recommended for rock-solid stability, curated trustworthy package repositories and painless in-place upgrades; critics say stable packages are old and bug fixes rarely get backported.552recommend
• Fedora LinuxA mainstream, beginner-friendly Linux distro that mostly works out of the box and balances stability with current packages, though frequent release upgrades occasionally break things.437recommend
• Arch LinuxA rolling Linux distro praised for up-to-date, near-upstream packages, excellent wiki docs and installs that last for years, though updates can break things and much is manual.362recommend
• Linux MintA beginner-friendly Linux distro that feels familiar to Windows users, works out of the box with no ads or nagware, though major version upgrades and display quirks can be troublesome.277recommend

Every quote

The 37 most detailed of 39 comments. Each links to the original.

1. I remember running Xubuntu (XFCE) and Lubuntu (LXDE, before LXQt) on a laptop with 4 GB of RAM and it was a pretty pleasant experience!

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Ubuntu now requires more RAM than Windows 11”

2. XFCE and LXDE are saviors for old machines. I frequently install Xubuntu and Lubuntu on old Chromebooks

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “XFCE Is Great”

3. it works like Windows, showed them how to check email, browse the web, play solitare, and shut down

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop”

4. i was able to get the office printer working on ubuntu that i could never print to on windows

   Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”

5. Linux is working ok for me, I can see why people complain about its not being user-friendly

   Mixed · Jan 2026 · in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”

6. anything that comes prepackaged with XFCE is perfect for an older PC

   Recommends · Oct 2026 · in “50MB operating system can resurrect your old PC”

7. For older hardware: Void Linux, Xubuntu or maybe Linux Mint Xfce.

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide”

8. have run that ever since with no performance issues whatsoever

   Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide”

9. I was running xubuntu as my main desktop since 2010 at least

   Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0”

10. I have used xubuntu (xfce Ubuntu distro) for many years

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “XFCE Is Great”

11. it's perfect for video conferencing and web surfing

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Motherboard sales are now collapsing amid unprecedented shortages fueled by AI”

12. I switched to Xubuntu and it was about 5 minutes.

    Recommends · Dec 2025 · in “Damn Small Linux”

13. then I switched to Xubuntu and was happy again.

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “XFCE Is Great”

14. haven't had a single "support call" since

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “2026 will be my year of the Linux desktop”

15. I use Xubuntu on all my old computers

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it”

16. At the moment, I can't even use the desktop without annoying flickering & hard to diagnose / fix bugs.

    Criticizes · May 2026 · in “Linux gaming is faster because Windows APIs are becoming Linux kernel features”

17. I had to migrate away from Xubuntu (xfce) due to the poor HiDPI support

    Criticizes · Apr 2026 · in “Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Released”

18. Xubuntu 22.04 took nearly 10 GB of disk and half a gig of RAM.

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Damn Small Linux”

19. I wouldn't recommend Xubuntu for the average user.

    Criticizes · Jan 2026 · in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it”

20. I have booted Xubuntu and it's still slow.

    Criticizes · Dec 2025 · in “Damn Small Linux”

21. Xubuntu's _Minimal_ install does not include any snap packages at all, not even a browser.

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Released”

22. I initially had that with Xubuntu, but was able to find settings to fix it there

    Mixed · Feb 2026 · in “Microsoft forced me to switch to Linux”

23. It is the reason why I'm now happily running Xubuntu on the same machine.

    Recommends · Jun 2026 · in “32GB of DDR5 now costs $375 – AI shortage continues to squeeze PC building”

24. if the resources are lighter on say xubuntu then it's probably not snap

    Mixed · Apr 2026 · in “Ubuntu now requires more RAM than Windows 11”

25. simple, understandable desktops, and otherwise they stay out of the way

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Windows quality update: Progress we've made since March”

26. I am perfectly fine with running Xubuntu on the following hardware

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Don't throw away your old PC–it makes a better NAS than anything you can buy”

27. how many games are playable on my Xubuntu Chromebook install

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “Linux gaming is faster because Windows APIs are becoming Linux kernel features”

28. It’s available in Debian install or as Xubuntu.

    Recommends · Nov 2025 · in “Linux gamers on Steam cross over the 3% mark”

29. but missing industry software made it difficult

    Mixed · Nov 2025 · in “Windhawk Windows classic theme mod for Windows 11”

30. of late been very happy with Xubuntu (xfce)

    Recommends · Apr 2026 · in “Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Released”

31. just want my old Xubuntu the way I remember

    Recommends · May 2026 · in “I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows”

32. got xubuntu on it, running fine-ish

    Mixed · Sep 2026 · in “Used ThinkPad Buyer's Guide (2019)”

33. my preferred distro at the time

    Recommends · Jan 2026 · in “Microsoft kills official way to activate Windows 11/10 without internet”

34. I upgrade to 04s, it works.

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Leaving Linux”

35. just for its APT repository

    Recommends · Sep 2026 · in “Upgrade your desktop: Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS is now available”

36. frankly, it was awful - only OSX and OS9 were making that machine somehow usable

    Criticizes · Jun 2026 · in “PowerFox Browser”

37. later Xubuntu) but after both eventually experienced failed dist-upgrades

    Criticizes · Aug 2026 · in “Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra”