Over the years, people have pinned
Windows down as the slowest of all operating systems. While Mac still
remains a class product, our beloved Ubuntu Linux has shot to fame
because of its amazing speed and power, even on low-end systems.
Windows, after months, or sometimes weeks of usage, tends to bloat and
behave like a sluggish car beyond repair. Ubuntu on the other hand,
tends to stay as agile as it was when you first installed it, making it
one of the most preferred operating systems on low-end computer users.
That
said, grass isn’t always green in the Ubuntu Linux world. As with every
operating system, perfection eludes the open-source distribution, thus
making issues like slowdown and incompatibility more prominent. These
problems, however, cannot be pinned down as Ubuntu’s fault because most
of them arise from incompatible hardware, especially graphics cards. So,
if you too, in some point in time have faced, or are facing issues of
slowdown and choppy graphics, here are some simple tips to help you
alleviate those problems and in effect make Ubuntu Linux run faster.
Install/Update to the latest graphics driver
About
three years ago, when I went to purchase a new graphics card, the
vendor recommended me ATI, telling me that it’s much better than the
almost-omnipresent NVIDIA, and that I won’t be disappointed by the
performance. I couldn’t agree more with him as I too had read a lot
about ATI, but never had the chance to try it out. So, I went home with a
sparkling grin, installed it, and tried out the latest game that was
available out there, and boy, I was thoroughly impressed with it. The
card ran as smooth as butter on Windows, but then, once I installed
Ubuntu on my computer, that’s where the problems began. Not only did I
have a tough time installing the drivers, I also had trouble getting the card to work just enough to play movies.
However,
sticking to ATI paid off, as graphic support for my card has improved
by miles over the last couple of years. Though not as good as it is on
Windows, it is still quite satisfactory when you have a lot of RAM.
If you ever have faced similar issues in the past, I don't need to tell you how important it is to update your graphics drivers.
Use Unity 2D instead of 3D
If upgrading your graphic card doesn’t help alleviate the problem, then it may be good idea to move to something lighter. While XFCE
is a perfect desktop for extremely low-end and dated computers, for
those stuck with an incompatible or old graphic cards, the Qt-based
Unity 2D comes in really handy. The light environment brings the best
features of Ubuntu without using too much of your RAM.
Use apt-get often
With
the advent of Ubuntu Software Center, the classic-yet-powerful apt has
lost its prominence. Though as good as Ubuntu’s new app store is,
apt-get is almost ten times faster thus saving you a lot of valuable
time that’s usually spent while updating and installing applications.
Check start-up applications
Ubuntu
doesn’t bloat like Windows, but having a dozen of start-up applications
surely slows it down. To remedy that problem, it’s always a good idea
to check which apps you have added to your start-up list. To do so, open
the launcher (Super Key/Windows Key) and type in the words ‘startup
applications’. Once the ‘Settings’ window opens, chose which
applications should load when Ubuntu starts up.
Clean your browser’s cache
Sometimes,
especially if you’re a web addict, the browser cache tends to pile up
and slow down the computer. A simple solution to this problem is
clearing the cache by going to your browser’s settings menu.
Install Preload
Preload is an adaptive readahead daemon, which, once installed, monitors the applications
you run, analyzes that data, and, by predicting which application
you’ll run next, loads the predicted program into your memory. Of
course, this won’t dramatically speed up your computer, but you’ll
certainly see some improvements. To install preload, open the terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and type in/paste the following command:
sudo apt-get install preload
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