.
Things I liked:
Reasonably fast server brings in 937 Mb iso in 10-15 min.
Universal LiveUSB installer easily makes LiveUSB.
ALL my laptop hardware recognized and drivers provided
....except for internal closed-source wifi.
Easily sets up open-source external wifi.
Xfce desktop neat, intuitive & responsive.
Uses Ubuntu whisker menu and includes a LibreMenu menu editor.
Network mgr working well, given wifi drivers.
FF is 25; LO is 4.2; amd64 kernel is 3.13.
Boots to browser on-line in ~60 sec; shut-down < 5 sec.
GUI makes it easy to disable my touchpad which disrupts typing.
Things I didn't like:
Inefficient choices in initial 937 Mb base configuration.
937 Mb iso doesn't include closed-source ttf-mscorefonts, Broadcom drivers & flash;
....also doesn't include open-source LibreOffice, Geany & tzdata.
Configuring 2 Gb of persistence took a really long time.
LibreOffice took a long time to bring in as well.
*Apt-get needed to install tzdata; ntp updates desktop to local time on reboot.
Mousepad editor poorer than leafpad, much poorer than gedit IMO.
Bug 1: whisker menu editor doesn't save (or properly display) liveUSB favorites;
....Mint 16 doesn't have this problem with favorites panel display
Bug 2: does not recognize closed-source drivers brought in
....nor indicate correct status of devices using closed-source drivers.
LibreMenu requires a wholesale upgrade of gtk+ and python3 infrastructure.
Things I don't understand:
Why screensaver set only to blank screen.
Why Ubuntu Software Center rather than Synaptic.
*Maybe because I didn't understand Ubuntu Software Center usage as root.
G.SKILL Trident Z5 RGB Series 64GB (2 x 32GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR5 6400 (PC5 5120
$190.00
Crucial 8GB 1x8GB PC RAM PC3L 12800U DDR3 1600MHz Desktop Memory DIMM
$8.99
A-Tech 8GB DDR3 1600 PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM 204-Pin Memory RAM PC3L DDR3L 1x 8G
$13.99
Crucial DDR3L 16GB 1600 2x 8GB PC3-12800 Laptop SODIMM Memory RAM PC3 16G DDR3
$22.45
[ BULK LOT OF 20 ] UNITS of 8GB DDR4 Laptop RAM SAMSUNG, HYNIX etc.
$179.99
Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32GB (2 x 16GB) PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Memory
$54.99
RAMAXEL 16 GB ( 4 GB x 4 sticks ) DDR3L-1600 PC3L-12800U 12800 Desktop RAM - HVD
$11.42
Micron 16GB DDR4-2400 SODIMM MTA16ATF2G64HZ-2G3E1 Laptop Memory RAM
$21.99
Samsung Chromebook XE350XBA-K05US 15.6" 1080p FHD Laptop Intel 4GB RAM 128GB SSD
$349.00
128GB Kit 4x 32GB PC4-17000 LRDIMM DELL POWEREDGE R730xd R730 R630 Memory RAM
$127.96