14 DAY TRIAL // A new official Xubuntu flavor called "core" has been announced by developers. It's based on Ubuntu, and it integrates the Xfce desktop environment and nothing else.
The Xubuntu development team has announced the launch of a new spin that is really slim, and that integrates only a minimal number of packages that allow users to get the Xubuntu experience, but none of the packages. It doesn't mean that you can't install them from the official repos, just that they are not implemented by default.
There are a number of reasons why this distribution is necessary, and one of them is size. Not everyone has the bandwidth necessary to download a full-fledged distribution, and some people might want something smaller. It's easier to download only the few extra packages that you need, instead of getting a larger ISO and removing stuff that you don't want.
Xubuntu core has nothing in common with Ubuntu Core
The names of the two operating systems might look like they share some underlying features, but they do not. The only thing they have in common in the name. Xubuntu core is just a minimalistic distro that brings users just that, the core.
"Xubuntu core is a slimmed down version of Xubuntu that doesn’t come with all the additional features of a full and modern desktop. We essentially only ship Xfce and the basic look and feel of Xubuntu, so there will be no office suite, media players, et cetera. The obvious benefit is that this ISO (about 600MB) will be faster to download – especially interesting for those with limited connectivity – and fit on a CD. We have been working on this for a while, which is why you can already install it starting with Utopic," noted the developers on blog.
You can download Xubuntu Core from the official website.