Linpus Vs Ubuntu 9.04 Netbook remix Speed comparison

After using Crunchbang for a week or so I'd definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a speedy distro without too many compromises. It's not the most ideal for a linux novice, but the learning curve isn't too bad on it.

Plus as the #! website says, it's not brown!

 

As jacktar writes, autologin setting will solve that problem.

I had tried, and failed to install Linpus on a new AA1 with 160gb HDD and Windows. After several attempts, I gave up and installed Ubuntu 9.04, the netbook remix version, and Xubuntu, first on an SDHC card, and finally to a partition on the HDD. I ended up sticking with the standard Ubuntu distribution, which seems to be very stable and works well with an AA1.

Installing to an 8gb SDHC card, Ubuntu left about 2.5gb of usable space; Xubuntu about 4.5gb. I couldn't see any noticeable speed differences among any of them. There were some speed differences compared with Windows XP, sometimes to Windows' advantage. Here are some benchmarks from HDD install:

Boot:
Ubuntu 50 seconds
Windows 110 seconds

Launch/relaunch of FireFox 3 essentially a tie. However, FF performance under Windows is noticeably faster.

MOV files:
The default Ubuntu player works fine with LD video, but cannot keep up with HD video
After installing QuickTime, Windows plays both LD and HD smoothly at "fit to screen" size; full screen HD stutters a little, but not nearly as bad as with Linux.

I'm surprised -- I expected Linux to kick Windows' butt on these tasks, but not so. A good argument can be made to keep both OS's installed (if you have the space). I really dislike Windows, but occasionally I need it, and much as I hate to say so, it does have some good points.

For SSD, Xubuntu or netbook remix may be a better choice because they occupy less space, although I much preferred the standard Ubuntu UI. I haven't tried other distributions; Ubuntu is so slick and well supported that I have no desire for further experimentations. The way Ubuntu handled disk partitioning was especially comforting, as I was quite nervous about trashing Windows duing the install. There is something to be said for stability and support.

 

I'm using an AAO150L (1GB RAM) that had the HD replaced with a CF card and I've tried Linpus, Xubuntu and the Ubuntu netbook remix.
Linpus was simply too much work and annoyance for me (never got the VPN tunnel to work properly, which means no Wifi at my university).

Xubuntu was somewhat ugly, but quite nice and fast. If you already have an ubuntu install, it's relatively easy to switch distributions to try it out without reinstalling.
I installed the netbook remix yesterday and so far it seems to be horribly slow in comparision. Any tips on how to speed this up? If it stays like this, I'm definitely going back to ugly but speedy xubuntu.

 

In appearance preferences, check the "Visual Effects" tab, and make sure that it's set for "None: Provides a simple desktop environment without any effects." Special effects eye candy can really slow things down.