wattOS: Light weight, Ubuntu-based Linux distro

Filed under: OS Updates, Linux, Open Source

wattOS: Light weight, Ubuntu-based Linux distro

by Brad Linder Jul 12th 2008

WattOS is a new Linux distribution that's based on Ubuntu, but designed for low-power machines. It has low system requirements, which means you can run it on older hardware. But the developers are also hoping to build advanced power management features into the OS so that you'll have a full Linux desktop experience without consuming much power (by today's computer standards).

The operating system comes in four flavors:

wattOS: The core operating system which features a Gnome desktop
mWattOS: Uses the Xfce interface
µWattOS: Features a command line interface and a light-weight GUI
Substation: A server edition

WattOS is currently available as a public alpha, which means there's still a lot of work to do, but the operating system is perfectly usable, if a little rough around the edges. It comes with a stripped down set of applications. For examle, instead of OpenOffice.org you get AbiWord and Gnumeric. But WattOS supports apt-get and the Synaptic Package Manager, which makes it easy to add additional applications.

[via Sizlopedia]

Tags: linux, ubuntu, wattos

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Gardiner Westbound said 1:17PM on 7-12-2008

I will welcome WattOS if it does what the publisher says it will do. I have an old HP6460 I would like to rescue from oblivion. I tried over a dozen Linux distros including several boasting low power requirements. None worked very well.

I have never successfully installed and run Ubuntu notwithstanding countless hours working with four versions. I did get the version 6.04 wireless network adapter set up correctly with NDISWrapper, but not the next three releases. The sound does not work on any of them despite a new sound card that meets the Ubuntu specification.

PCLinuxOS 2007 crashes on reboot and must be reinstalled. Research indicates the cause may be insufficient computer memory notwithstanding the HP satisfies the 256 megabytes of memory basic requirement.

SAM 2007 Desktop, based on PCLOS 2007 and Mandriva, also uses the less resource intensive Xfce 4 Desktop. It’s a hodgepodge of applications and lacks PCLOS’s balance, organization and charm. I partitioned the drive with Partition Magic and installed it. It runs at a snail's pace, and slows Windows down too.

I also tried PCLOS TinyMe Test 7, a beta. It ran like the wind on the old HP, but I could not set the screen resolution and there was no sound.

In my experience most Linux distros are long on hype and short on performance.

Joseph Barr said 10:11PM on 7-13-2008

Have you tried Puppy Linux 3 ?

PCLOS said 1:26PM on 7-14-2008

try PCLOS's mini distros like MiniMe or TinyMe

brie987 said 8:02AM on 7-15-2008

I agree with Joseph, I have Puppy Linux on dual boot on my Thinkpad 240 and it works great. 6gig rom, 192mb ram, P2 300ghz. Puppy also has a great forum that helps with everything. Being a total nubi I was very grateful.

Eric said 7:47AM on 7-14-2008

Yay, N+1 linux distribution with 1/(N+1) quality.

Keith Eckstein said 7:47AM on 7-14-2008

Gardiner - as Joseph says; Puppy might the way for you to rescue your old HP. I am running Puppy on a 600MHz Celeron with 256MB of RAM and it is functionally (in terms of bootup, application load times, application response time), the fastest machine I have (currently typing this on a 2.6GHz AMD - 2GB of RAM - Ubuntu Hardy Heron) - try it ouy, you might be suprised. The newest version of Puppy is 4.0 (I think) but there are many variations (tailored for different requirements) - they're all small downloads - the official website can be confusing but if you Google, you'll find plenty of other sites (such a s Distrowatch) which may give more information. By the way, although you can run Puppy from the CD, I have installed to hard drive - that just seems more natural to me.

Give it a go,

Keith

dec said 7:47AM on 7-14-2008

...so what about xubuntu alternate?

Ethan said 12:27PM on 7-14-2008

What OS should i get?

WattOS.

Yeah, What OS?

That's right.

That's what I'm asking you. What OS?

WattOS!

(etc until violence ensues)

immrlizard said 1:25PM on 7-14-2008

@ Gardiner Westbound

I have had some of the same experiences that you have it sounds. I have had success with Damnsmall linux, puppy linux and if you have a little more power, xubuntu. They are really small and work on very little resources. Just for giggles I installed Damnsmall on a machine that I usually ran XP and I was shocked at how fast it was.

brie987 said 8:02AM on 7-15-2008

Does anyone think this will work with a Nokia N770 internet tablet? Thanks.

Gardiner Westbound said 10:17AM on 7-15-2008

Thanks all for the tips. I am downloading Puppy and Damn Small and will give them a try

Lee Tompkins said 12:50AM on 9-12-2008

I have tried many Linux Distro's all of them have their good points (at least most do). I have found nothing which can run on older hardware like Puppy. I am using Puppy ver.4.01 on this machine it is a Toshiba Libretto pentium(1) 266mhz and only 64mb ram. I am using a orinoco Gold pcmcia wireless card to connect to the internet. there are more than enough apps available and they are very easy to install using the built in application for browsing the software catalogs.
I know there will be people who want to disagree with me but, trust me give it a chance it's a small download and simple to install.

Featured Time Waster

Civiballs is a beautiful, soothing physics puzzle Time Waster

I have an absolute weakness for physics games, and while Civiballs isn't the strongest physics-based game, what it lacks in the physics department it makes up for a few times over in style and fun.

In Civiballs, you are presented with a few colored balls, and your goal is to get those balls into the same-colored urn on the level. The "civi" part of Civiballs is that there are 3 sets of levels to play, each representing a different civilization. While the civilization doesn't affect gameplay, the artwork for each level is beautifully themed to it's appropriate era.

To play the game, you are given only one tool - a sword with which to cut the chains that are holding the balls. The puzzle part of the game is in figuring out what order, and with what timing to cut each chain. Do it right, and all the right balls end up in the right urns, with no stray balls entering an urn (a no-no). Do it wrong, and you get to start over again.

Civiballs is not terribly deep on gameplay; the entire game can be completed in about 15 minutes. But if you enjoy this type of game, it will be a very enjoyable 15 minutes.

View more Time Wasters