Linux Lite: A Lightweight Distro Designed for Beginners

We've heard it many times: a Linux distro that serves as a first step for inexperienced users and offers a more efficient environment on modest computers. But Linux Lite aims to go a step further, thanks to small tweaks to its interface that make it an intuitive option for those who want to leave Redmond and embrace the penguin. Its most recent build was updated this week, and today we take a look.

Linux Lite presents itself as a "transition" operating system. Its goal is to provide a simple, fast, comfortable, and free entry into the Linux universe, and it understands from the start that the most effective way is to reproduce (to a certain extent) the experience any user finds in a Windows environment. From a technical standpoint, Linux Lite is based on the latest LTS edition of Ubuntu, with a more than reasonable balance between stability and update frequency.

Linux Lite: "New" and "Familiar" at the Same Time

But unlike that "Windows 12" that was circulating on the web, there's no camouflage here, and it never forgets its identity as a Linux distro. The software selection is very similar to what we've seen in other projects, starting with Firefox, the office suite LibreOffice, GIMP for image editing, VLC Player as a media player, and Thunderbird for email management.

The Lite Software utility acts as a kind of mini-store that simplifies the process of installing classic programs. Steam, Skype, Spotify, Kodi, Handbrake, Audacity, Chrome, and Dropbox appear on that list, so the user won't have to struggle with dependencies or weird commands to get them. But when it comes to uninstalling already-present applications, it's likely you'll end up 'descending' to Synaptic. Personally, I have no problem with that, but if the user's previous experience with Linux is zero... let's say Synaptic isn't the most intuitive option in the world.

The installation of Linux Lite caused no problems on our end, and everything worked as expected. The only major detail is that its Spanish translation doesn't seem entirely complete. The OS asks if we want to rename several elements from English to Spanish, but despite that offer, there are aspects left to polish.

At the end of the day, the truth is that Linux Lite doesn't put anything revolutionary on the table. While it fulfills the "lite" profile by enabling a 1.3 GB image (much smaller compared to Mint's 1.9 GB or Ubuntu's 2.5 GB), it decides to follow a known path in the name of ease of use. What do I mean by that? I would like to see a more opt-in profile, allowing the user to choose software post-installation. Now, I don't want to sound unfair: that's not limited to Linux Lite, and many other distros do the same. Still, I think it deserves a bit of your time. Would you like to try it? Go to the official page and download version 5.0, which was released last Monday.

Official site and download: Click here.