Ubuntu distros: RAM & CPU usage of Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu & Lubuntu

An interesting suggestion came for comparing the RAM & CPU usage of the four Linux sisters: Ubuntu 12.04 LTS, Kubuntu 12.04 LTS, Xubuntu 12.04 LTS & Lubuntu 12.04 LTS.

As mentioned in my previous post, Ubuntu seemed to be the most taxing on CPU & RAM whereas Lubuntu seemed to be the least. The same results are validated when I booted each of them from pen drive and checked the RAM & CPU usage.

Distro	Xubuntu 12.04 LTS	Ubuntu 12.04 LTS	Kubuntu 12.04 LTS	Lubuntu 12.04 LTS
CPU Usage	6%-10%	17%-18%	3%-10%	1%-11%
RAM Usage	130 MiB	340 MiB	235 MiB	126 MiB

In nutshell, Lubuntu uses least RAM and CPU. Xubuntu is very close to Lubuntu. Kubuntu lies somewhere in the middle with about 235 MiB RAM usage and Ubuntu, of course, with the effects of Unity (2D here) and other graphics, uses about 50% more RAM than Kubuntu.

Limitations: All these are without any programs running and booted from pen drive. After installation and updating, the actual RAM & CPU usage may be slightly higher.

17-May-2012:

One additional comment: Please check my review on Linux Mint 13 LTS with Gnome 2 before deciding on what distro you would like to install.

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[SOLVED] Hate Gnome/Unity? Here's how to integrate XFCE / LXDE desktops to your Ubuntu

I know many users who dislike Unity interface. I too personally prefer the classic view with a Cairo dock - Unity 3D is very heavy for my Asus EeePC 1101HA. I had installed Ubuntu 11.10 on my machine as an upgrade from 11.04, which I removed later as I never liked the Unity menu bar. I like the classic view more.

Later I tried installing Lubuntu 11.10, Kubuntu 11.10 and Xubuntu 11.10 - each time I ended up with Ubuntu 11.10! Somehow if once Ubuntu 11.10 is installed, it won't allow installing the other variants on the same machine. So, as a get around, I found the following very useful - integrating the benefits of both Ubuntu and a lightweight desktop environment like XFCE, KDE or LXDE.

To install type the following commands on your terminal (with an active internet connection - involves around 50 mb of download):

1. To install Lubuntu or LXDE desktop:
sudo apt-get install lubuntu-desktop

2. To install Kubuntu or KDE desktop:
sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop

3. To install Xubuntu or XFCE desktop:
sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop

All of these are derivatives of Ubuntu with a lighter desktop environment, specially good for older machines. Once you restart after installation, grub will provide you the options to log in to the desktop environment you installed. That way you don't have to remove whatever you install - Ubuntu, Xubuntu, Kubuntu or Lubuntu, and enjoy the benefit that other desktop environments offer

These are snapshots of my Ubuntu desktop (classic view), LXDE desktop and Lubuntu desktop (which I installed minutes ago) on the same computer. Hope you'll like them.

Ubuntu 11.04 desktop (Classic View with Mac theme)

LXDE Desktop

Lubuntu Desktop with Cairo Dock

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