What are the best Linux distributions for laptops?

Question

28

Options
Considered

767

User
Recs.

Jul 22, 2019

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

The Best 1 of 25 OptionsWhy?

Best Linux distributions for laptops	Price	Based On	Init-System
90 Manjaro	FREE	Arch Linux	Systemd
85 Arch	FREE	N/A	Systemd
-- Xubuntu	FREE	Ubuntu	Systemd
-- Debian GNU/Linux	Free	None	Systemd(SysVinit on non-LinuxPorts)
80 Ubuntu	FREE	Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)	Systemd

See Full List

24 Other Options Considered

Arch

Top Pro

Excellent documentation

Arch's goal of simplicity means there's usually one preferred way to get things done - through organized and well documented configuration files. This focus, combined with the community's recognition that configuration files can be intimidating, has resulted in excellent documentation that's accessible to newcomers, and very instructive about how Linux actually works. The documentation is often so thorough that, when searching for solutions to problems while using other distributions, such as with video card drivers, oftentimes you'll find the most effective solution in the Arch Linux wiki or on the forums. See More

Top Con

Not ready out of the box

You have to install your day-to-day software requirements manually. See More

PioneeringAsag's Experience

Arch is probably really good if you're a Linux pro. I installed it based off a recommendation of a friend, but even months down the line I couldn't get it to work nicely with my hardware. Try Manjaro instead for great Arch software without the hassle. See More

Specs

Based On:N/A

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Stripped down to the bone

Since it's stripped down, it's fast and you don't have to deal with bloatware. See More

See All

Xubuntu

Top Pro

Conservative, yet modern

It comes with all Ubuntu goodness but without bloat, a perfect mix between new ideas and usability. See More

Top Con

UI is pretty generic without customization

The default XFCE UI is pretty generic and sometimes ugly unless customized to suit the user's needs and liking. Customization in XFCE is easier than on Unity, but still hard for beginners. See More

Christian Montefusco's Experience

Never had unsolvable problems. They keep it simple, yet user friendly. Community isn't the best side, but this distro is popular enought to mention in other communities and get useful feedback. See More

Specs

Based On:Ubuntu

Init-System:Systemd

Default Desktop Environment:Xfce

Package manager:dpkg

See All Specs

Xubuntu is very fast and makes good use of resources. See More

Top Pro

Quick boot time

Boots at about double the speed of most distributions. See More

Top Pro

Software structure is very simple

It's a good distro for beginners who want to explore aspects of Linux through tutorials and info got from the internet. See More

See All

Debian GNU/Linux

Top Pro

Highly secure system

Known for being consistent in maintaining a highly secure system. Several other popular distros use Debian as a base or core for their own Linux OS, the security being one of the main factors why it's so commonly used. See More

Top Con

Not designed for general desktop usage

By default, Debian is not that great of a distro for general desktop usage, since the packages are very outdated. You'll have to spend a while configuring the system in order to make it work. See More

EmbiggenedBasamum's Experience

I've found Debian highly stable and secure. I love Debian combined with KDE Plasma. See More

Specs

Based On:None

Init-System:Systemd(SysVinit on non-LinuxPorts)

Default Desktop Environment:CLI, GNOME(Xfce on non-Linux Ports)

Top Pro

Just works out of the box

Lots of support for hardware, lots of pre-installed software, and a smooth install process means less time downloading drivers, less time digging through configuration files, and less time deciding on software to use just to get up and running. It also means less time digging through forums looking for support. See More

Top Con

Canonical (author) is proprietary

Canonical is focused on making money so you can see many propertiary offers by them and the OS has built in trackers (Amazon). See More

HonorableTepeyollotl's Experience

easy to use and a lot of info when things go wrong See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)

Init-System:Systemd

See All

Fedora

Top Pro

Lots of packages available

Fedora repos + REMI + RPMFusion, and now Microsoft is developing software for RedHat, which is available for Fedora as well. You can also add repos for CentOS, OpenSuse; and somehow Arch people like Fedora people, so aur repo also works perfectly. See More

Top Con

Slow

It is quite slow on some computers See More

Elias Van Ootegem's Experience

It's my go-to distro for my work laptops. Installs fast & easy, there's tons of RPM's with up-to-date packages available, and there's more than enough tools out there so I can quickly set up my environment and get cracking in no time. rpm/yum/dnf as a tool still has its quirks/faults, but the binary diff packages are a really neat feature, which can cut down on download/upgrade time quite significantly. This is especially useful on a laptop where disk space, and (battery) time can sometimes be factors (e.g. quickly need to patch/update a package on the move, a well kept diff/cache can bring downloads down from 100Mb to less than 20!). Haven't had a single hardware compatibility problem in the last 4 years (working with at least 7 laptops over the same period of time). Though anecdotal, I've not heard of any unsupported hardware from anyone I know who runs fedora. I have always waited a bit to upgrade to the next version (~1 month) because the brave souls that venture out to do this first often do encounter some issues. See More

Specs

Based On:Red Hat Linux

Init-System:Systemd

Top Pro

Spins and Labs

Spins are images with a different WM/DE, and Labs are filled with a specific theme of packages. See More

See All

Mint

Top Pro

Compatibility with Debian and Ubuntu software builds and repositories

Mint and gains the very strong package ecosystem and software manager of Debian, including more than 30,000 packages available from the Debian repositories. See More

Top Con

Security may be an issue

Linux Mint by default does not have auto updates turned on for important packages such as xorg or the kernel, thus leaving users with potentially insecure software. See More

WittyLempo's Experience

Easy to install, easy to find software (easy Ubuntu package system), easy to update and upgrade. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Well-designed in every detail, developers have a professional aproach to the system

Deepin has a sane default set of apps including custom apps of their own design that gives the distro a very consistent look and feel. By working with the community on these tools as well as custom translations there is a great sense of polish when using it that is not often seen when using such a new desktop environment. See More

Top Con

Forced EULA

AlanK AtWork's Experience

It's just one slick and beautiful distro. Fast and elegant. See More

Specs

Based On:Debian Stable

Init-System:Systemd

Default Desktop Environment:Deepin Desktop Environment

Top Pro

Windows desktop style

The desktop UI was made to resemble Windows 7, but alternative settings are available. See More

Top Con

Limited desktop styles in Free Version

All free editions only offer Windows XP, 2000, and 7 and Gnome 2. You have to pay $9-10 in order to get Unity (Ubuntu) and Mac OS X themes. See More

DedicatedSaubarag's Experience

My windows 10 on a new computer was working, and couldn't reinstall. The Zorin was one I had on an old laptop. Now I can go online again. See More

Specs

Based On:Ubuntu

Default Desktop Environment:(Customized) Gnome 3 Desktop Environment

Release Schedule:2 Year

Price:Free for core, €19 for Ultimate

Top Pro

Fast and light on resources

RAM consumption is the same as LxLE, but more efficient and because of Whisker Menu and other tweaks that let us feel more like we have a XFCE desktop environment, as keyboard shortcuts, for instance, it looks like we got here the fastest and lightest, globally speaking. Very good on performance. Download Respin 7 (March 2017), install Libreoffice and then compare, for example, opening Libreoffice Writer inside Peppermint 7, Extix 17.04, Lubuntu 16.10, Xubuntu 16.04, Backbox 4.7, Linux Mint 18.1 Xfce an Mate or Linux Lite 3.4 (and others). Finally, you'll find out that after opening a few apps in Peppermint it remains smooth and light. Nemo file explorer on Peppermint is incredibly faster than on Mint Cinnamon; lx terminal is very fast when opening; updating is fast. And after all this, distro keeps working and working very solidly and consistently along the time. And yet the look and feel of the environment is pleasant. See More

CulturedArke's Experience

after using linux lite (can't remember ver. but is the most recent) and peppermint 8 on a hp pavilion ze 2000 with amd semprom mobile +3000 single core at 1.8 ghz with 1.5 gb ram ddr-1 , broadcom wireless , and ati xpress m200(?) with shared memory of 256mb bios ver 27, I have found that ubuntus do not have wireless drivers, mephis and debian lxde or lfce are hard to operate and linux lite, even though it works out of the box, is much SLOWER on my old laptop than peppermint 0S 8. See More

Specs

Based On:Lubuntu

Init-System:Systemd

Default Desktop Environment:LXDE + Xfce

Package manager:dpkg

See All Specs

Top Pro

Much better on old laptops than most distros

The only distro that is "faster" would be Puppy Linux Slacko. See More

LivelyLuna's Experience

Specs

Based On:None

Init-System:OpenRC

Default Desktop Environment:CLI

Package manager:Portage

See All Specs

Puppy Linux

Top Pro

Extremely low minimum system requirements

Puppy Linux requires 128MB of RAM and 333Mhz of CPU, although 256MB of RAM is recommended. See More

Top Con

Smallest software library ever

You can barely find any precompiled packages for Puppy. See More

Specs

Based On:N/A however Software is usually taken from Ubuntu or Slackware

Init-System:SysV

Package manager:ppm

Official Supported Architectures:i386, amd64, ARM

Top Pro

The whole OS runs off of RAM

Since Puppy Linux is completely loaded and run off of RAM instead of HDD, it's read/write speed is not a factor. See More

Top Con

A bit ugly

Using puppy makes you feel like you just jumped 20 years into the past. Being that the purpose of Puppy Linux is to run or really low resource machines the software used is often on the older side, which is precisely why it has a 20 year old look. See More

Top Pro

Designed to run as a live USB/CD

A portable version, that can be carried on a thumb drive without requiring installation, weighs less than 100MB; a Live CD - less than 150MB. You can even save your settings and files for Puppy on the external device/media. Running off a live CD also has security benefits, as your system will reset to the known config after each boot. See More

See All

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score 233 · Accepted Answer

Manjaro

Top Pro

Very good looking desktops

All desktops look good by default. See More

Top Pro

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

You can choose between different Manjaro editions which have their own change in features, and there is also Manjaro community editions where the community can make their own changes. See More

See All

What are the best Linux distributions for laptops?

The Best 1 of 25 OptionsWhy?

Manjaro

My Recommendation for Manjaro

My Recommendation for Manjaro

Arch User Repository access

Can still be unstable

Latest kernels

The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository

Based on Arch and user friendly

New packages and security updates are held for testing longer

A rolling-release distribution

You can't change the default theme in certain applications

Installation is a breeze

Daily manual updates

Stable and consistently up to date

Slightly bloated

Friendly community

Nothing new

All major desktops can be directly installed from official repositories

Often breaks grub

Improved stability due to a longer testing period for new packages

Very slow development for 32-bit hardwares

Uses low memory

Bad way of handling dependencies

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Weekly manual updates

Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm).

Support for multiple kernels

Deepin desktop environment is a worthy attraction

Manjaro

Steam installed by default

Very good looking desktops

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

24 Other Options Considered

Arch

My Recommendation for Arch

My Recommendation for Arch

Excellent documentation

Not ready out of the box

As slim or copious as you want it

Instability can be an issue

Fast and simple package management

Not for the faint of heart

Helpful community

Requires some background with Linux and the command-line to setup

No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything

Package manager is so naive

Cutting edge rolling release

Fragile packages

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

A package for almost everything

Manual install process

Excellent package management with the AUR

Rolling release requires bandwidth

Support for a large variety of hardware

Not so great overall

Highly customizable

Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it

Great for low performance hardware

Problems with driver/kernel/gpu consistency

Helpful for understanding how Linux is installed

Multiple Aur helpers

Arch Linux Wiki

Helpful 3rd party installers

Stripped down to the bone

Xubuntu

My Recommendation for Xubuntu

My Recommendation for Xubuntu

Conservative, yet modern

UI is pretty generic without customization

Comes with lightweight applications

XFCE development is slow

Customizable

Great performance

Quick boot time

Software structure is very simple

Debian GNU/Linux

My Recommendation for Debian GNU/Linux