Free
Price
Donation-funded open source
Report
Should I Use Xubuntu?
Depends
DependsGood free pick for reviving old or low-RAM PCs if you're comfortable with community-only support and verifying downloads yourself.
Free lightweight Linux for old PCs — great value, but verify downloads after the 2025 site hack; 24.04 reviews were mixed.
Confidence: Medium
72
DistroWatch reviews
Reader ratings
75
G2 reviews
Filtered user reviews
2GB RAM
Runs on
Per community install thread
Value for money
5
Free, donation-funded, full Ubuntu ecosystem
Ease of use
3
Smooth for some users; 24.04 drew sharp complaints
Feature depth
3
Decent app selection, lighter than mainstream Ubuntu
Support quality
2
Community forums and mailing lists; paid support extra
Security posture
2
Official downloads served malware in 2025; root CVE
Pros
Cons
Gotchas
- highOfficial downloads were compromised in Oct 2025 to distribute malware — always verify checksums²
- mediumNo dedicated security page found on the official site
- mediumEnterprise support is paid separately; the distro itself is donation-funded
- mediumPost-incident silence has users questioning maintenance continuity
Best for
- Reviving old or low-RAM PCs
- Ubuntu compatibility on lighter hardware
- Tinkerers OK with community support
- Zero-budget setups
Not for
- Businesses needing vendor SLAs or support contracts
- Security-sensitive users unwilling to verify ISO checksums
- Beginners wanting a polished, hands-off experience
- Anyone expecting fast official responses after the 2025 compromise
Pricing
Xubuntu Desktop
Free
- Full Xfce desktop
- Ubuntu repositories
- Community support only
Security
Official site compromised Oct 2025 to serve malware through downloads; postmortem published Nov 2025.
- Website download compromise (Oct 2025)Attackers compromised the downloads section to distribute malware; downloads were disabled and a public postmortem followed in Nov 2025.¹
- CVE-2026-3888: Ubuntu Desktop root exploitUbuntu Desktop 24.04+ reported vulnerable to an exploit granting full root control; affects Xubuntu as an Ubuntu flavor.⁴
What users say
Opinions split: many praise it as a fast, underrated distro for old machines, while the 24.04 release and the 2025 hack drew sharp criticism.
“Xubuntu is the Most Underrated Distro Around”
“Xubuntu 24.04 - a real bad experience”
“Is XUbuntu even worth it anymore?”
Alternatives
Compare Xubuntu with each alternative.
Linux Mint XFCE
More polished beginner experience, similar lightness
MX Linux
Lightweight, frequently recommended as an Xubuntu substitute
Xubuntu vs MX LinuxZorin OS Lite
Windows-like layout, aimed at older hardware
Debian with Xfce
Rock-solid base without Ubuntu's release churn
Full analysis
Based on ~40 public sources; many review snippets were truncated in the evidence set.
Sources
security
- Xubuntu website downloads section gets malwaretheregister.comnews
- Xubuntu Website Hacked to Spread Malware Via Downloadsbitdefender.comnews
- CVE-2026-3888: Ubuntu Desktop 24.04+ vulnerable to Root exploitsecurityaffairs.comsecurity
- 72 reader reviews of Xubuntudistrowatch.comreview
- Xubuntu 24.04 - a real bad experiencereddit.comreview
review
review
- Xubuntu 24.04 | Specs, reviews and EoL infoinvgate.comreview
- Install Xubuntu on a computer with 2GB RAMdiscourse.ubuntu.comofficial
Rate this review
Anonymous. You can change your vote.
Loading votes…
Comments
One queue. No nested comments. Give a display name first. Limit: 200 words per comment and 7 comments per day. You can edit or delete yours.
No comments yet.