Knoppix Kicks KDE to the Kurb, Loves LXDE Lately!

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Knoppix has always used KDE. Shockingly, that has changed recently according to Download Squad and Linux Magazine. LXDE is now the choice for the father of Live CDs and prominent Debian prodigy.

Download Squad says:

Lat[sic] month Knoppix 6.0 was released, and it's even faster and prettier than earlier versions. But it's still designed to run well on older and slower computers. Among the changes in version 6.0 is the switch from the KDE desktop environment to the LXDE graphical environment. LXDE is light weight and loads quickly, but it's capable of offering all sorts of visual candy including Compiz desktop effects.

Knoppix 6.0 also boots twice as fast as Knoppix 5, and comes with fewer applications preloaded, which helps keep the size down. While the main disk image weighs in at 645MB, it can be remastered to use 256MB or less.

You can also now save your settings after shutting down the system by creatng a persisent boot image.

LXDE is an awesome new DE that I use for all my old Win2000-era laptops. It runs great in 128MB RAM with Debian or Ubuntu as the base so there's no surprise when Linux magazine says about Knoppix on netbooks:

Knoppix has always been regarded as one of the most versatile Linux distros out there, but the latest version of the venerable Live CD Linux distribution has got yet another trick up its sleeve. Thanks to its excellent hardware detection, blazingly fast boot process, and the lightweight LXDE desktop environment, Knoppix 6.0 makes a perfect distro for netbooks. In fact, it supports all hardware on ASUS Eee PC 701 and 900 as well as Acer Aspire One right out of the box, including the wireless card. That's right, you don't have to fiddle with ndiswrapper or install a custom kernel in order to make your wireless card work. Knoppix 6.0 also detects the graphics card correctly, chooses the proper screen resolution, and enables Compiz Fusion 3D desktop effects. Even with 3D desktop effects enabled, the system feels very snappy.

Congratulations, Knoppix, on staying so relevant for so long!

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