Speed up Ubuntu/Xubuntu 11.04

If you had used elder Ubuntu or Xubuntu versions before latest 11.04 Natty Narwhal version and upgraded to 11.04 edition, you might have realised that latest version is slower than elder ones. Actually a lot of Ubuntu users including me had a lot of expectations on Ubuntu' s new version and Unity graphical interface but different than a stable, faster linux distro it just faced us with a Windows type OS with a lot of graphical effects but less stability and speed.

Thanfully, there is a simple solution to that at basic level.

Ubuntu 11.04 Natty Narwhal - Unity Interface

I have Ubuntu 11.04 installed on my laptop and Xubuntu 11.04 installed on my old pc with Amd 2.20 hz cpu, 1.5 gb ram, Nvidia 7600gt graphic card. I have no stability problem with Ubuntu 11.04 with my laptop but Ubuntu 11.04 just did not work on my old pc although previous 10.04 version was working pretty cool. So I decided to install Xubuntu 11.04 with lighter Xfce interface on my old pc.

Ubuntu community forums are already filled up with complains at 11.04 Natty Narwhal version and  hopefully Ubuntu developers promising to fix those issues with upcoming 11.10 version.

For now to keep your Ubuntu OS stable and faster you can apply a few basic steps or try advanced tweakings. 

Here I am going to advice you a few simple steps that you can apply easy.

1) For Ubuntu 11.04 change the session graphical interface from Unity to classic Gnome.

* Click the Power icon > System Settings> Login Manager
* Find and click on Login Screen where you can set your default session as well.
* Select Ubuntu Classic Desktop as session graphical interface.
2) For Xubuntu 11.04 change the recent session graphical interface  to classic Xfce.
* Click the Applications Menu icon > System>Login Manager

* Find and click on Login Screen where you can set your default session as well.
* Select Xfce as session graphical interface.
3) For both Ubuntu and Xubuntu 11.04 editions, disable the unnecessary services and reduce the size of virtual desktops (reduce to 1, if you dont use any of them).
4) Else you can apply advanced tweaks. (Take a look at Ubuntu community forums or just google it.)
5) As a final option, you may consider installing Lubuntu (Lightest Ubuntu editions) or Kubuntu (Ubuntu with KDE interface) instead.

References

Scottlinux
Ubuntu Community Forums