Cool, thanks for the information guys.
I think GNOME3 starts up using about 600MB of RAM, and LXDE starts up using
about 200MB.
I guess that GNOME3 is a little more taxing on the processor, and maybe other
parts, than LXDE is, as well.
Could this make a noticeable difference in battery life, for notebook
computers?
It probably depends on what you're doing and what your battery is like. My
guess is you won't be able to notice the difference unless one of the
environments is using 3D acceleration (e.g. GNOME Shell, Unity, Compiz,
Cinnamon).
I'd suggest doing some experimentation with the DEs you want
According to these test the difference is not very big.
* http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=articleitem=uxklbuntu_power
* http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=articleitem=linux_desktop_vitals
Here's a few tips that could help too
* http://trisquel.info/en/wiki/optimizing-battery-time
Trisquel 6 32-bit uses 130MB with GNOME Fallback (default). 64-bit uses
280MB~300MB.
