Performance Tips for Linux

Here are some easy tips to make your Linux desktop run even faster.

Give up the wallpaper Try right clicking on the desktop and selecting the "Configure Desktop" to find an option to use a plain color instead of a photo wall paper. Ubuntuclips.org has a video walk through of this task.
Disable File Previews UbuntuClips shows you how to do this for Ubuntu.
Avoid OpenOffice OpenOffice is powerful and easy to use. It's also a memory hog. Consider Abiword for basic word processing and Gnumeric for spreadsheets. You could still install OpenOffice, but only launch it if you need it. In Ubuntu, the abiword-plugins package adds support for more file formats, making it easier to work with Word and OpenOffice files.
If you would consider replacing all or most of your applications with lighter weight versions, consider installing a complete, light weight Linux distribution instead. Recommendations are linked to below.

See Also