Top 5 Netbook Linux Distros: 2010 Edition (with Gallery)
Who could have, just a year ago, predicted the dramatic changes in the netbook operating system world? The release of Windows 7 and cheaper hardware launched an exciting race for users between Linux and Windows, forcing both to take it up a notch, especially in the aesthetics department. This year might be the year of cloud operating systems, but at the same time more powerful netbooks will enable us to use more advanced features. There are a few distributions you might remember from last year’s article. However, even the ones that stayed in the top 5 have gone through some heavy face-lifting. Hardware support is unfortunately still a major problem in the Linux world, that is why it played a major role in the ranking. My testing machine was an Asus Eee PC 1101 HA, which comes with a surprisingly problematic piece of hardware, the Intel Poulsbo GMA 500 graphics chip, that makes using advanced graphics effects a challenge, if you aren’t using Windows.
So, without further ado, here are the top 5 netbook Linux distributions for 2010!
Ubuntu Netbook Remix – UNR
We can now confidently say Ubuntu is the de-facto Linux distribution and even the netbook respin of the 9.10 “Karmic Koala” release is no exception. The loading and login screens are simply gorgeous. The Maximus window manager works pretty well on small monitors and neatly organizes your workspace. Despite the optimizations you should not expect stellar performance, though. My personal recommendation is to remove the default window manager:
$sudo apt-get remove ubuntu-netbook-remix ubuntu-netbook-remix-default-settings maximus
and switch back to GNOME, or install something faster like Xfce. On my machine I still had to setup the Poulsbo chip using a script and the wireless card worked much batter after using a windows driver through ndiswrapper. Not much to add, really. Otherwise, what you are getting is a heavily optimized version of Karmic Koala. And since we’re talking about the most successful Linux distro, there is a high chance that you will like it.
By now you have probably gotten used to the new developer trends and are not afraid of trying out a product still in beta. Heck, I ran it when it was still an invite-only alpha. Jolicloud is web-centric and divided into three parts: the Linux kernel, the wonderful Jolicloud desktop and the web service, My Jolicloud. Installing applications is very easy and Jolicloud provides an aesthetically pleasing and well-integrated way of using online services just like normal desktop apps. This is not an operating system for people who like to dive into the details, but for those who are interested in stying connected, sharing and doing some basic work on the internet. You can add friends to your Jolicloud network, share and recommend applications. Your desktop experience will seamlessly switch from the cloud to your local environment. Another good thing about Jolicloud is the excellent out-of-the-box hardware support. If you use a netbook for relatively simple tasks, but are tired of waiting for Windows 7 to load or are having problems with a traditional Linux distributions, you should definitely give Jolicloud a try.
Mandriva 2010 (GNOME)
Even though Mandriva has been losing market share every year, it remains one of the best netbook distributions out there. The developers keep updating every release with all the drivers needed for a great out-of-the-box experience. This is one of the only distributions that will work without any tweaks needed. My only reason for not using Mandriva is that I am an avid APT user. All in all, Mandriva 2010 is extremely polished and gives you a choice between 4 well-integrated desktop environments, the major two being Gnome and KDE. To my surprise, the Gnome version looks really, really good. Albeit Mandriva’s userbase is not as large as Ubuntu’s, the documentation is well-written and it is really easy to install the distribution on your new system. Choose Mandriva if you need a full-blown Linux distribution, do not have time to tweak your system and can tolerate RPM 
Penk’s Underbred Linux distribution has been making waves since about a year now. And rightfully so: 10-second boot time is a killer feature for busy people. The xPUD desktop is mind-bogglingly simple and based on Mozilla’s XUL interface. A dumbed-down version of Maximus, if you like. Yes, this is both crazy and awesome. The basic idea of xPUD is that you boot straight into the browser. No real desktop environment, just the browser and you. The distribution is at version 0.9.2 at the time of writing, a Chromium-based version is also in the works, promising more speed (remember, due to Gecko and XUL, you get slower overall performance despite the fast boot; using WebKit could speed things up a bit).
Formerly Ubuntu Eee (fixed, thanks Scott!), EasyPeasy is Ubuntu respin tailored for Asus Eee PCs. But since it didn’t work on my EeePC, I’ll have to give it last place. The desktop environment is taken from UNR – the only difference is that the Easy-Peasy version isn’t ugly (where ugly means brown). You could call it the Linux Mint of the netbook operating system world, because the default install includes some proprietary software such as Skype, Adobe Flash and some common codecs to make your life less painful. The project documentation is not very professional. On the other hand, the guides are simple and very useful. I liek the fact that they chose Banshee to be the default music player. Those of you who do not like ext4 should skip this distro, though: as of v1.5, EasyPeasy uses ext4 by default. Due to the fact that the distro is basically Ubuntu, you can solve all your problems using Ubuntu documentation. Yet, aside from the nice theme and some very sound software choices there is no real reason to choose Easy Peasy instead of UNR. Try both and decide by yourself.
(Totally starting a flame-war) Distros I Do NOT recommend:
- Moblin: it is now essentially a dead project because of MeeGo. If you really like Moblin, get Mandriva 2010 and choose the Moblin interface.
- Puppy Linux or TeenPup: You are root by default. Thumbs down.
- Chrome (Chromium) OS: not reliable enough; do not forget it’s a developers’ preview.
Right! So, you’re one of them who has ever used GNOME/GTK based desktop environments only. No wonder you forgot Kubuntu Netbook with KDE4 and Plasma. If you post an article on the web, at least research everything that’s out there. No way are the listed ones “Top 5″ by any yardstick. They are only the ones you happen to know.
KenP, please read my review of KDE 4.4 to see why I “forgot” KDE.
[...] Top 5 Netbook Linux Distros: 2010 Edition (with Gallery) Easy Peasy [...]
EasyPeasy used to be ‘Ubuntu Eee’, not Eeebuntu (which is undergoing its own changes right now).
So, you left it out because you couldn’t try it? Well, then your claim of these 5 netbook interfaces as being ‘top 5′ is still invalid.
Cheers.
No, Kde 4.4 was too resource-hungry to be suitable for a netbook
Strange.. – I’m running openSUSE 11.2 on my asus eeepc 1005-PE with KDE4 and really happy! – and even cannot say it uses more resources than GNOME, as well the interface and software integration is absolutely great!
KDE4 desktop made a huge progress! even with all gadgets and active desktop effects the system is still using only 100MB of my RAM (less 10% of my 1GB) – and interface is so well done and so fully configurable/adaptable according your needs! – well, as you may see I will even not try any from your 5 choices
I’m just going with openSUSE + KDE4! 
Rgds,
-Dimitri
Hi Cifra, which distro did you test KDE4 on? My PCLinuxOS uses 198Mb (yes that’s true) for a detault KDE4 desktop.
If you only tried Kubuntu, you probably picked the worst of the lot anyway!
Give PCLinuxOS a go if you want a snappy, highly functional KDE desktop.
Thanks Ken, it’s been a long time since I’ve tried PCLinuxOS, I should give it a spin
Try Kde4 of archone
http://news.softpedia.com/news/ArchOne-2010-04-Is-Available-Now-139504.shtml
@Cifra: As you can see from replies about KDE4, there are lot of good/fast implementations of KDE4 around. Unfortunately, for most reviewers, Ubuntu seems to be analogous to Linux and hence they end up reviewing Kubuntu as the de-facto KDE4 distribution.
This misconception leads to a sort of self-fulfilling prophesy where the mindset about Ubuntu being “the linux” gets further ingrained in a newbie’s mind.
Sorry, my previous post should be addressed to Greg, not Cifra.
Linux Mint. Running well on my ASUS EeePC 1000 SSD. Dual boots with Windows 7 Pro.
[...] Top 5 Netbook Linux Distros: 2010 Edition (with Gallery) [...]
KenP, you’re a tool.
Maybe instead of acting like an elitist douche, you should consider not referring to other people who don’t share your philosophy as “newbies.” Also, your generally rude tone (starting with your first response) hints toward the “KenP has no friends and spends all of his time flaming people on their blog instead of offering constructive input.”
Well, I also have no friends, sir. I’ve got plenty of time to flame you back
Snob, you are right. I am rude … especially to people who don’t play fair when comparing stuff. Just like the parent article we are all posting about
[...] [...]
easypeasy and unr seem super similar to me…
both were awesome.
moblin has(had) potential
“Puppy Linux or TeenPup: You are root by default. Thumbs down.”
xPUD defaults to root too.
nice list..
Guys stop flame-wars. KDE could be the enviroment for netbook. BUT! any netbook which have only 512mb RAM and 3gb filestorage with Celeron 630mhz, will die from trying to start you Plasma stuff XD, guys netbook is a small handheld for some easy deals, like skype, mail and net-surf, that means that netbook OS must not have any resource-eaters like plasma or any other thingies XD. Not everyone have money for resourcefull netbooks, also such netbooks are not for huge mass of people because nobody needs a netbook which could handle kde. if you need kde buy a pc or notebook. =) Cheers! XD
I have to agree, my netbook was dead for 7 months and I’d given up on it until Ubuntu Netbook Remix and Joli OS 1.2 came out.
I have no idea why, but I suddenly couldn’t run it with acpi or apic on, which was strange and I had no idea what that is (still don’t but it works when I turn it off now).
I love how much of a newb I sound like, but desktops come so much easier to me.
I’m eager to try some of these OS’s!
Nice to know about the “KDE” war going on, I’ll try an OS of it just to see now, have me curious.
Joli-OS is good, I must say. But never used xpud.
wonderfull. ’m eager to try some of these OS’s!
Who could have, just a year ago, predicted the dramatic changes in the netbook operating system world? The release of Windows 7 and cheaper hardware launched an.
I am using Peppermint 2 on my netbook.Very speed and stabil.[1.66ghz, 2 gb Ram, Intel GMA 3150] I recommended it netbook users.
No way i’ll keep ubuntu ( ore derivates) on my netbook ! It’s heavy line rocks and netbook remixes are dreadfull! Reeeeeeeeeally slow and laggy!!!
I suggest Fedora16 for netbooks, gnome shell is a perfect interface, and runs flawlessy silky and speedy on my 1gbRAM 160gbHDD Atom270 netbook as my main notebook ( core2duo 2gb ram) with windows 7 ( all netbook are cheap and almost same charatheristics so don’t sat someone have not powerfull enogh netbooks)
Really, if you try fedora16 on netbook you will never come back