I have just installed the standard default desktop configuration of Ubuntu 12.10 (Quantal Quetzal). My PC only has 1GB of RAM and is struggling a little. What steps can I take to reduce the memory overhead of the standard install? If it makes a difference, I use Firefox, and a terminal most of the time.
Simply running those two applications I see:
free -m
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 938 873 64 0 5 167
-/+ buffers/cache: 701 237
Swap: 959 158 801
Best Answer
You can easily install and try out different desktop environments (instead of the default, Unity). Once installed, you can switch between different desktop environments at the log-in screen (there is an icon near your name, which, when clicked, allows you to select).![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PXkvK.png)
Probably in your case, with 1GB ram, I would suggest the lubuntu desktop (based on LXDE). To install, open a terminal and type
If you don't want the whole environment, you can install LXDE by itself
Most everything will be the same but you'll have a new look that is less memory intensive (see many screenshots HERE). Firefox will be there, and the terminal will look a little different.
If you don't like the LXDE look, you can read about other desktop environments HERE. Options include Xfce (Xubuntu) and KDE (Kubuntu).