[SOLVED] Is my netbook compatible with Linux Mint?

[Disil07]

Hello, nice to meet you guys at this Linux Mint forums. Before i say my question, i apologize for my noob english skill, because im not a native speakers of english.

I want to install Linux Mint on my old netbook, it is 8 years old netbook, pretty old, for this kind of OS. But why i choose Linux Mint? Because it is popular, and im familiar with Windows. People say that if a people familiar with Windows, then you should choose Linux Mint.

Because it is a netbook, so the specs aren't the best. It is Indonesian products, so the brand is unknown for other countries. But anyway, here is the specs.

Axioo Pico CJW
Processor Intel Atom N2600 @1.6 GHz
RAM 2 GB DDR 3
HDD 320 GB SATA Seagate (i dont know the rpm)
Graphics Intel GMA 3600 Series
LCD 10" Resolution 1024x600
Currently running Windows 7 Ultimate

I want go to linux because i dont want to use Windows anymore, im a poor guy. Anyway, i will appreciate all of your help guys.

[Kadaitcha Man]

Hello, nice to meet you guys at this Linux Mint forums. Before i say my question, i apologize for my noob english skill, because im not a native speakers of english.

There's absolutely no need to apologise for that. Most people here are very much aware that not everyone has English as their first language, and there's always google translate

I want to install Linux Mint on my old netbook...

Processor Intel Atom N2600 @1.6 GHz
RAM 2 GB DDR 3
HDD 320 GB SATA Seagate (i dont know the rpm)
Graphics Intel GMA 3600 Series
LCD 10" Resolution 1024x600
Currently running Windows 7 Ultimate

It will work, yes, but Cinnamon may be just too much. You could try a live media of Linux Mint Xfce, but that too might struggle a little with 2GB of RAM, but again, you can try it in a live session. If Linux Mint is too heavy for the machine, take a look at the AntiX distribution.

[Moem]

I'm running Mint 19 Xfce on a very similarly specced machine. It's quite usable.

[guythp]

My netbook (similar spec) runs Mint 19.3 MATE and it's usable - some things take a while to load and it's a bit slow with things like resizing youtube videos but once it's up and running it's ok. That said the screen res isn't enough vertically to view all of the software centre window but you can scroll that around if needed..

In short, yes it should be fine.

[Hoser Rob]

I want to install Linux Mint on my old netbook...

Processor Intel Atom N2600 @1.6 GHz
RAM 2 GB DDR 3
HDD 320 GB SATA Seagate (i dont know the rpm)
Graphics Intel GMA 3600 Series
LCD 10" Resolution 1024x600
Currently running Windows 7 Ultimate

It will work, yes, but Cinnamon may be just too much. You could try a live media of Linux Mint Xfce, but that too might struggle a little with 2GB of RAM, but again, you can try it in a live session. If Linux Mint is too heavy for the machine, take a look at the AntiX distribution.

Cinnamon may be too much? That's an understatement if I ever heard one.

I have an old netbook with that same CPU/GPU. The graphics are also klnown as Cedarview and they're a bit notorious in Linux. The thing is that they were outsourced by Intel, like the equally infamous Poulsbo gpu, and the mfr will not release the source code.

So it will never have 3D accelerated video, ever. So forget Cinnamon. Xfce will work but you need to turn off all desktop compositing.

It will run Linux (but I wouldn't install anything newer than Mint 19.2) but do not plan to ever watch video on it. It won;'t even play SD video properly.

[Pierre]

with an 1.6Ghz cpu & just 2Gb of memory,
- that will be an slow machine .. win-7 would be slow, as well.

an better suggestion is
https://mxlinux.org/
OR
https://antixlinux.com/
as they are both based upon the XFCE Desktop,
& which would be more suited to that older CPU . .

you could also try the XFCE version of the LinuxMint system - - as well.
https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=283

[Disil07]

Which should I choose? MATE or Xfce? In the website it says that Xfce doesn't support as many features like MATE. What features it is?

[Pierre]

the Mate desktop is nice to use & look at,
but it does use that bit more in resources . .

they both have an similar suite of installed programs, though.

[Kadaitcha Man]

Which should I choose? ... What features it is?

You should choose the one that works best for you. You can try both. As for features, Mint and Xfce have a generally large difference in their implementation of features that, technically, are exactly the same in terms of results and software available. Their features are just presented to the user differently. Either way, both of them have a complete set of features.

Edit: I agree with Pierre. MATE is nicer to look at, but I think it's in the presentation of features because they look very much the same out of the box.

[MartyMint]

...and don't be put off by the performance of Linux on a machine so underpowered.
If you find it intriguing, try it on a more modern device. Then, you can develop a deeper appreciation of the value of Linux.

I hope this netbook opens a door for you.

[Hoser Rob]

The issue here isn't the CPu speed or RAM, it's the fact that the GMA 3600 is one of the worst graphics cards for Linux. There's no 3D video accel whatsoever. Xfce is better for this situation IMO. I own a similar piece of crap and am quite familiar with it.

[Disil07]

Okay i will try to install Linux Mint 19.3 Xfce 32-bit on the devices. Thanks for helping me!