The Verdict
Lightweight distros
We’ve chosen Lubuntu as the best of the current crop of lightweight Linux distributions. In some ways, it doesn’t feel like an exciting choice because Lubuntu seems to be all about delivering the standard Ubuntu experience with a faster, less resource-intensive desktop. However, there’s no arguing with what it provides. The desktop is clear and more or less fully featured, with a layout that nearly every computer user will be able to grasp at first sight. It’s fast in operation and reasonably light on memory usage. To be frank, machines that aren’t powerful enough to handle Lubuntu are going to struggle to handle mainstream applications like a web browser anyway.