32-bit ISO images are no longer being produced (as of 17.10). The 32-bit version tends to be easier to use and runs into less problems. For an optimized installation (and especially for those wishing to run more than ~3 GiB of RAM) however, a 64-bit installation CD is available.

On the other hand, some GNU/Linux distributions may require more powerful hardware as minimum system requirements, like the Ubuntu GNOME case.Īll 64-bit (x86-64) CPUs should be fast enough to run Ubuntu and can run the 32-bit (x86) version as well. It might be worth trying Ubuntu but really start looking at other distros. A machine with a crumbling, 15 year-old, slow, 8 GB, IDE hard-drive probably won't work and doesn't really compare with the netbook anyway. For example, a netbook with an 8 GB SSD will work well although there wont be much room for saving stuff directly onto the drive so cloud storage services could help a lot. On one hand, hardware produced in the last few years or with an efficient architecture or machines built for a specific purpose can often work well with less.

Screen resolution will be set at the highest your graphics card can handle but when you boot-up you should be given a 'Low graphics mode' option which allows you to set it to something better for your monitor.

Either a CD/DVD drive or a USB port for the installer media.

VGA capable of 1024x768 screen resolution.

25 GB (8.6 GB for minimal) of hard-drive space (or USB stick, memory card or external drive but see LiveCD for an alternative approach).

Simply try Ubuntu CD as a LiveCD first to check the hardware works. A good 'rule of thumb' is that machines that could run XP, Vista, Windows 7 or x86 OS X will almost always be a lot faster with Ubuntu even if they are lower-spec than described below. The Recommended Minimum System Requirements, here, should allow even someone fairly new to installing Ubuntu or Gnu&Linux to easily install a usable system with enough room to be comfortable. A desktop system is typically used for personal computing tasks and has a graphical user interface (GUI), while a server system typically has a command-line interface (CLI). Most people will want to install a desktop system such as Ubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubuntu.

This page details the hardware required to run Ubuntu and its derivative versions.

Lightweight GUI alternative (Xubuntu and Lubuntu).

Recommended Minimum System Requirements.

Install hubstaff on ubuntu