Arch Linux and Xfce vs Xubuntu
Xubuntu is a Linux distribution featuring the Xfce desktop environment; Arch Linux is a Linux distribution that is frequently used with Xfce.
The base systems, Arch and Ubuntu, are quite distinct.
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[edit] Proprietary Software
Makers of Linux-compatible proprietary software often provide .deb and .rpm packages. This offers compatibility with a great many Linux systems (Mint,Ubuntu,Debian,Red Hat, and Fedora) but doesn't provide compatibility with Arch based systems. Programs that work on Ubuntu and not on Arch include Google's "Talk" plugin and Skype.
[edit] Cutting Edge Software
Arch provides the very latest stable versions of most packages when they come out -- it is a rolling release. Ubuntu provides new "stable" releases every 6 months that typically include packages that are a few months old at the time of release. (But this is still far newer than the Windows XP base systems which has most of its software written before 2001, or the Windows 7 base system, which has most of its software written before 2010)
[edit] Speed
Arch Linux with Xfce starts up about 30% faster, and uses about 70% less memory at startup (140MB, as compared to 600MB for Xubuntu). This can result in much better performance on Arch, but it depends very much on which programs are being used on top of the base system and whether they fill up the available RAM.
[edit] Hard Drive Space
Installing graphical programs on Arch Linux until it is a match with the Xubuntu default system will result in less hard drive space used -- about 200MB in savings.
[edit] Installation
Xubuntu provides a simple point and click installer to get you started, and comes with a graphical desktop and a number of desktop programs, from the start. Arch Linux does not provide an easy-to-install graphical system; the base install is small and everything beyond a basic command line system (and things like wireless network related packages) needs to be installed separately. This is not as big of a problem as it appears, because ArchBang is essentially an Arch Linux base system with graphics and wireless networking support built in. Users who want an Arch system, but won't be able to connect to the internet until their wireless internet card is working, would be well advised to download ArchBang.
