I used Omega Linux to revitalize a junk PC, and it's noticeably better than Ubuntu

3 hours ago 6
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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

  • Omega Linux is simply a lightweight Linux distro.
  • Based connected Arch, Omega is simply a rolling release.
  • Omega is escaped to instal and use.

Do you person an aged PC lying astir conscionable waiting to service arsenic your secondary desktop machine, oregon a mode to instrumentality your archetypal steps with Linux? 

Maybe you privation to skip the Ubuntu way and spell with a Linux organisation that is regularly updated, lightweight, blazingly fast, and incredibly reliable. If that's the case, don't place Omega Linux.

Omega Linux is an Arch-based Linux organisation designed to beryllium an OS perfectly suited for older, lower-powered hardware. This distro tin tally on:

  • 1GB of RAM
  • 1 halfway CPU astatine 1.5 GHz
  • 15GB of storage

Also: Have an aged PC? These 5 lightweight Linux distributions volition bring it backmost to life

Those strategy requirements screen machines built successful the past decade.

What Omega offers

  • A lightweight Linux organisation based connected Arch Linux
  • A rolling merchandise distribution, truthful it's ever up to date
  • A minimal postulation of bundle that you tin physique on
  • The LXDE desktop environment
  • The systemctl init system
  • Firefox, Mousepad, Vim, and a fewer different preinstalled apps
  • The pacman bundle manager

What Omega doesn't offer

  • A afloat postulation of bundle retired of the box
  • A GUI app store

One of the astir awesome things astir Omega Linux is that, during my testing, I recovered it to typically usage little than 1% of the CPU erstwhile idle. In different words, the OS uses precise fewer strategy resources, which frees them up for applications.

Omega Linux

The OS uses truthful fewer strategy resources.

Jack Wallen/ZDNET

Who Omega Linux is for

Omega Linux is an perfect organisation for those who privation to revive aging PCs but besides similar Arch Linux and don't caput utilizing the bid enactment (at slightest to start).

Who Omega Linux is not for

If you're caller to Linux, Omega Linux mightiness not beryllium your champion option, particularly if you've ne'er utilized the bid line. If, however, you are funny successful learning the bid line, Omega Linux is simply a imaginable option.

Yes, Omega Linux volition necessitate that you usage the bid line. During my testing, I attempted to instal some pacman GUIs, Pamac and Octopi, but some failed, which means Omega Linux is constricted to command-line bundle management.

Also: 10 Linux apps I instal connected each caller instrumentality (and wherefore you should, too)

Don't fret, arsenic Pacman isn't each that difficult. For example, I installed LibreOffice with:

sudo pacman -S libreoffice

The velocity of it all

After installing LibreOffice, I fired it up and was shocked astatine however accelerated it opened. I've honestly ne'er seen this app unfastened truthful quickly. It was practically instant… little than 1 second.

I past installed GIMP to spot however rapidly it would start. This peculiar app is notorious for slower startup times due to the fact that it has to load truthful much. The archetypal clip I opened GIMP, it took astir 5 seconds to open. However, aft that, GIMP was acceptable to spell successful fractional the time. 

Also: This lightweight Linux distro is the champion (and easiest) mode to revive your aged computer. Here's how

This is awesome due to the fact that Omega Linux was capable to unfastened these apps faster than my System76 Thelio moving Pop!_OS with 32GB of RAM and an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12-Core CPU.

If you privation speed, Omega Linux should beryllium connected your radar. 

I've tested a batch of lightweight Linux distributions, and Omega Linux has rapidly risen to the apical of my database of recommended options. Even though you bash person to usage the bid enactment to instal applications, if you don't caput that, you'll beryllium rewarded with unheard-of velocity and reliability.

Also: Why this lightweight Linux distro won't triumph immoderate popularity contests but is cleanable for powerfulness users

If, connected the different hand, you're much funny successful simplicity, I would accidental instrumentality with the likes of Lubuntu oregon Linux Lite.

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