- I have a fast machine - let's say Intel Core i7, SSD drive, Nvidia GTX 560 card.
- I don't need an eye-candy system.
- I still need to perform it properly, that meaning have latest drivers, use my hardware properly.
I think it's strange to say:
Well, this PC is so fast, let's install GNOME3 on it, it will handle, so whatever.
Why wouldn't I install Lubuntu on it, just as I use it on my net-book? In other words is Lubuntu a good choice or not? I mean, does Lubuntu have any disadvantages to it when it comes to new hardware support, or whatever?
Note: This may look like an off-topic question leading only to a discussion, but bear with me for a second here. I don't mean to discuss which of the two is better or whatever, I'd rather hear facts.
Lubuntu, which is a part of Ubuntu, uses exactly the same drivers and all the software from Ubuntu is readily available. There's also no problem of just installing it from within a normal Ubuntu install and then you can choose when you login. I've also been told, but not confirmed, that you can run indicators for Unity on LXpanel. You can install just LXDE by installing http://apt.ubuntu.com/p/lxde, which is recommendable if you want to replace the shell, but still use Firefox, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, etc. Lubuntu replaces all of those, but then there's nothing wrong with installing them as well. http://apt.ubuntu.com/p/lubuntu-desktop for the entire package.
In other words, there is nothing wrong with using Lubuntu. The benefit from using Unity is that you get far easier and faster access to data and apps, along with some nice window handling capabilities. But if you can live without those and want a really snappy DE, then LXDE is quite nice.
Lubuntu is the lighter flavour available which has a very fast desktop but is missing some of the elements of it's bigger brother... If you can live without the eye candy, multimedia keys (volume up/down/mute) and use a lighter office suite (Abiword, Gnumeric) then it's perfect for you... This is my distro of choice...