KaOS is one of the best KDE distributions I have tried in a very long time. The idea behind KaOS is to create a tightly integrated rolling and transparent distribution for the modern desktop, build from scratch with a very specific focus. Focus on one DE (KDE), one toolkit (Qt), one architecture (x86_64).
http://kaosx.us/
3 months ago I've installed the KaOS 2014.12 on one of the old laptops at work with 2GB of RAM. After a few minutes I was delighted with the speed of KDE, a lot of good-looking, clean desktop, plasma theme, flat interface, very smooth operating, etc. Although I'm not a fan of the KDE environment, this distribution can be a very good alternative to the Mint distro for Windows XP users who may switch to Linux using older hardware. Unfortunately it doesn't support 32bit applications, that means no Steam which is this distro's biggest minus. But who is using Steam on low specs?
I wonder if anyone else tried the KaOS, and the experiences of the Linux beginner? What are your impressions?
I tried KaOS, and ignoring the fact that I hate KDE, I think that it's a really bad distro. Not being able to run 32-bit applications is retarded. I see plenty of reason to use Steam on a low spec system, because there are plenty of good old games on steam that doesn't require a beast of PC.
If you want KDE with rolling release I would rather go with Manjaro KDE or Netrunner Rolling.
Personally, although maybe above the knowledge of some who haven't used linux as long, I feel as though the best way to get the best performance out of any system, be it an older laptop, or a high performance desktop, is to build linux yourself based around what it will be running on. My favorite thing to do with any new build is to install completely stock Debian without any addons or built-in graphical managers. This gives you a console, and nothing else, from which you can start with any desktop manager that would work best, gnome being my favorite, but KDE being more lightweight, then you're off, just continue tailoring it how you please, that's the beauty of linux.
I use Linux for 15 years every day at work, I was a programmer, developer, network administrator, and currently I am the system administrator, so I just asked for the opinion of beginners. As well as the general opinion on this distribution for an older laptop mainly used for office.
I wrote 'at work' referring to an office use, no game playing. And question related to Steam was black humor. That bs 'But who is using Steam on low specs?' is in fact a sarcastic comment on the lack of 32bit libraries.
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