linuxgeek: [LINUX_Newbies] Ubuntu 12.10 Slooooow Acer Aspire Atom w/ 2GB

I recently installed Ubuntu 12.10 on an Acer Aspire One netbook that is running an Atom Z520 chip (Ubuntu says it is 1.33GHz x 2). The machine has 2 GB memory installed (verified by Ubuntu). This install replaced Win XP that came on the machine - I reformatted the HD (155 GB) and completely eliminated Windows - in other words, it is a full install and not a dual boot situation (it doesn't ask me to select an operating system when it boots up, so I have to believe I got the single boot right). Ubuntu agrees that it is a 155 GB drive and tells me that I have about 144 GB remaining.

It is just unacceptably slow.

Much slower than Win XP on that machine. For example, it takes about 20 seconds for Firefox to open in Ubuntu vs. about 10 seconds in XP on that machine. Libre Office takes about 30 seconds to open versus about 10 seconds in XP on that machine. There is a noticeable delay in typing on Libre Office under Ubuntu (characters appear on the screen 3-5 characters behind what I'm typing) versus sharp crisp response under XP. It typically takes 10 seconds to open an individual email in GMail versus 2-3 seconds under XP.

When windows/screens (whatever they're called in Ubuntu) open, they open small and transparent and then grow to full size and full opacity over a period of seconds in steps. It is annoying, especially given the delay between clicking on something and that something being open and ready to accept input from the keyboard. Even the command button (the little gear cog on the top right) is slow to respond.

Yes, I did measure response times before I switched to Ubuntu because I was expecting improvements and wanted to see just what kind of improvement I was getting. Instead, I'm ready to give up on Ubuntu and go back to Windows.

I have no idea what Ubuntu does for drivers - does it just load some generic drivers for keyboards, display, etc. that could be slowing things down? Was I supposed to find some Ubuntu drivers for this machine and load them? I didn't specifically load any drivers - but everything was working (just slowly) once I finished the install.

Is this just normal for Ubuntu on a machine like this (I can't believe that it's slower than XP) or can people start pointing me to ways to fix this problem. And no, I'm not going to do my own recompiles of the Kernel or buy all sorts of extra special software - either Ubuntu makes sense on a machine like this, or it doesn't. All the advertising/proselytizing says it does make sense, so is the advertising right or wrong?

Thanks,

Jon

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Posted by: jon.perelstein@gmail.com

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