I also recommend arch Linux but here's the problem.

Kyle who is the maintainer of Talking arch never released a tutorial for installing a desktop on your Arch Linux.
Wanderer, Is XFCE accessible? if it is, could you spend some time pointing us in the right direction to install it on arch Linux?

BTW, I have no intention of highjacking arqmeister's  thread, just thought XFCE is cool, but can't install it~

Sounds quite complicated. I'd be willing to work with it if there was literally a step by step process that i could follow. The command line doesn't scare me, but i want to make sure i'm entering the right commands lol.

Arqmeister, as some have told you the stock Ubuntu distribution isn't as lightweight as it once was but there are lightweight releases of Ubuntu you can try which may deliver what you are looking for. As has previously been mentioned Ubuntu-Mate is such an alternative. Instead of the usual Unity desktop etc Ubuntu-Mate comes with the Mate desktop which is an updated version of Gnome 2. The upside to Ubuntu-Mate is that is fairly accessible, and runs pretty fast on older hardware. Plus isn't as complicated as Arch to setup.

Here's the readme:
Arch Autobuild Live Environment
Contents
++disclaimer
++intro
++requirements
++How to use
++What this installs:
++What this will do
++FAQS
++disclaimer
    Arch Autobuild Live Environment
    Copyright (C) 2014  Daniel Nash

    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along
    with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
    51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

    I can be contacted by email at [email protected]

++intro
This is a modified live arch linux distribution with an easy to use text-based installation process
***IMPORTANT NOTE*** THIS WILL DESTROY ALL DATA ON YOUR FIRST HARD DISK! BACK UP ALL OF YOUR DATA BEFORE YOU TYPE AUTOBUILD!!!
By first disk, I am refering to the disk that linux believes is sda, so  unplug all other disks than the target disk during the installation process (I know I sound like apple, but I'm just making sure I don't get mobbed by a bunch of people who didn't read this file and are wondering why they accidently blew away the wrong disk).  If you are planning to dule boot, your best bet is to use VirtualBox, because due to time constraints in developing this thing, I did not have the time to put in a function to ask you how much space you want to give linux, so it will use your whole disk.
++requirements
Any computer with an i386 or x86_64 archetecture (You'll be surprised what this thing runs on, even a p2 with 128 megs of ram)
dvd drive or flash stick for installation
wired or wireless network card to download installation packages over the net
make sure your system is connected to AC power during the install
anywhere from 2 to 8 hours(your best bet is to run this, go to lunch when it gets to the installation step, then come back to do the post install steps)
An external drive with a larger capacity than your hard disk if you are going to back up your system with clonezilla
++How to use
To automatically build your system, follow these simple instructions:
1: BACK UP ALL DATA!!!!! before starting this install since it will destroy all information on the first hard disk that it sees (sda) **THIS THING SHOWS NO MERCY!**
Note: if you need assistance with backing up your data, use clonezilla, a free backup solution included on both installation images. To run, at the root prompt, type clonezilla, select device image, then follow the displayed or spoken prompts (If using the talking image and you are only hearing ok cancel, press the * key on the numpad until you hear highlight tracking and try to move in the lists again)
2: After you finish with your backups and burning the iso, boot from the newly created dvd by placing it in your drive and restarting your computer. While you see your manufacturer's logo (hp, sony, dell, etc), continue pressing the boot menu key (f12 for most manufacturers, f9 for hp's, and select cd rom, ide1, cd/dvd-rom, or something similar from the menu.
3: After reading the readme file, when you get the root prompt which should look like "[root@archiso~#}", just type autobuild
4: watch it fly. you will be asked a few questions during the setup process such as encryption key (your password that you will type each time you turn on your computer to protect your files, and after the installation completes, the username, passwords, etc. Simply follow the instructions displayed on your screen or spoken by espeakup if using the talking installer to complete the install.
++What this installs:
This script installs a variety of software, almost too much to count. Here is a brief selection:
gnome, kde, lxde, xfce, cinnamon, mate, and enlightenment desktops including all accompanying software collections
thunderbird email client
libreOffice productivity suite(writer, impress, calc, base and draw (the linux equivilent of ms office, for free, including a word processer, presentation program, spreadsheet program, drawing program, and a database solution))
firefox web browser
chromium web browser
google chrome web browser
pandora internet radio client
fortuner desktop fortune cookies
youtube-dl video downloader used in command line (find a video you want to download on youtube in your browser of choice, coppy the address by right clicking the video link and selecting the coppy link address, coppy link location or something similar option in your browser, open the terminal application through the desktop search box or the menus, type youtube-dl paste the link, and watch is fly)
gparted partitioner
ntfs-3g read and write ntfs volumes
VirtualBox virtualization tool, allowing you to run virtual machines to run other opperating systems, giving each one it's own disk space, memory, etc...(this is the best way to multiboot, but it will eat your ram like a thirsty camel after a 200 mile long journey accross the gobi desert)
wine: run windows programs on your linux system
emacs (the opperating system disguised as a text editor
multimedia (mp3) support
banshee media player (iTunes for linux), oh I mean an actual media player and not an ad machine
tesseract ocr system with ocrfeeder and gimagereader graphical frontends
retroarch emulation system, ever wanted a desktop arcade? this app will give you just that, it emulates many retro systems, from the ancient pong consoles to the playstation 1 (roms not included, try coolrom.com or similar, look up mame rom files or (system name) roms on google)
audacious music player (winamp clone)
audacity audio editor
vlc media player
simple ocr program that reads the text from the scanned image aloud, open a terminal, type ocr, hit enter, and assuming that your scanner is sane-compatible (most are these days), just sit back and listen, just make sure the sheet isn't upside-down, otherwise, you'll be asking what the french fries is this nonsense?
A load of other software, 23 gigs of goodies, take your pick
++What this will do
1: connect you to the internet with wifi
2: partition your disk, if you see "partitioning your disk", you're done, remember I said back up your data?
3: format and mount the boot volume that will hold the kernel and grub config
4: set up disk encryption (this is required, because everytime I tryed without disk encryption, grub came back and gave me a nice out of memory error and would leave me staring at a grub boot prompt, and besides, it's a barrier to theives ("Give me your computer!", you shut it down, and sure, take it!) they'll be spending days just guessing your disk encryption key, and later, thanks to ecryptfs home folder encryption, your login password
5: format your newly encrypted root as ext4
6: make a fstab (temp copy)
7: install software (this will take a long time to download upwards of 4 gigs of packages over your network connection (Don't try this on your carriers network unless you have unlimited data, otherwise, oink oink, your data bill raises the roof )
8: copy your temp fstab to your new root
9: copy your grub.cfg file that will auto-boot the system
10: run a post install script that will install software not included in the default repos, like google chrome, pithos, fbcmd (use facebook from the command line), retroarch, etc..., enable services like printer support, bluetooth, the gnome display manager, etc..., set a root (system god) password and make an account for you to use and set up your password and finally setup home encryption, protecting your files, even if a thief takes out your drive
++FAQS
Q: Why is my hp system refusing to boot?
a: This has happened to me several times, the sollution is to immediately press the esc key after powering up, before you see the hp logo and press enter at the startup menu, it appears to be a bug with the hp firmware, where it trys to execute the fake mbr code in the gpt too early and doesn't give control to grub and later, the linux kernel, this seems to be due to a setting in the bios which I haven't been able to pin down as of yet, just hit esc while powering up and then enter.
Q: When I start up, I don't see a desktop or a login manager, I just see this thing saying to enter my passphrase to unlock dev sda, what does this mean?
A: Remember the encryption key that you typed in during the install? That's your passphrase, you have to type this in every time you reboot your computer.
Q: Where's word, excel, powerpoint, outlook...
A: Word, excel and powerpoint are the libreoffice suite, writer, calc, and impress, also, as part of this suite, you also get base, a database program, draw, a drawing program, and math, a formula editor. The linux equivilant of outlook is evolution, part of the gnome desktop environment.
Q: Is this legal? the cops won't get me for using this system, will they?
A: No way in hades's gymsocks! Since this is all free software, meaning free as in the right to study, make changes to, and free to distribute, there is nothing illegal about either me distributing or you using any of this software, when I use terms like word, outlook, excel, etc, you do not get microsoft products, you get free , better, and compatible alternatives to those products.

To be honest, this project started out as really only for my use when I had to set up systems in bulk for part of my job last summer. I might add selective partitioning in the near future, as I said, this was my first project written in shell script. You are also correct in saying that it does not let the user customize their install, however keep in mind that it can also be used as a regular arch install medium, it doesn't automatically boot into the installer, so if you wanted to install your own packages, customize your system the way you want, etc, I won't stop you. The only reason I kept going with this project is because as I learned more in shell scripting, I added segments to the server side post installation scripts to do things like pre configure accessibility apps like orca, freespeech, eviacam and chromevox for someone who just wants an accessible system.

Hi,
Where, exactly, is the autobuild script? I've downloaded the ISO and am unable to find it with 7zip, which would most certainly let me find it. I could list all the apps I do find in there, if you want?

alternatively, here's the code:

modprobe ecryptfs ; echo "WARNING!!!!! THIS PROCESS WILL DESTROY ALL INFORMATION ON YOUR HARD DISK!!! You have 10 seconds to exit by pressing control c" ; sleep 10 ; echo "Welcome to the Arch Linux installer! " ; dd status=none if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile count=8192 ; echo a > /a ; cryptsetup -q luksFormat /swapfile -d /a ; cryptsetup luksOpen /swapfile swap -d /a ; mkswap /dev/mapper/swap ; swapon /dev/mapper/swap ; echo "detecting system type... " ; if cat /proc/config.gz | gunzip | grep -q x86_64; then echo "64-bit install detected, installing 64-bit packages and configuring package manager for multilib packages"; cp /usr/share/autobuild/pacman.conf /etc ; else echo "32-bit installation detected, not installing multilib packages"; fi ;wifi-menu -o ; if wget -q google.com ; rm index.html; then echo connected to internet, proceding to install phase! ; else echo Sorry, your system is not connected to the internet. Installation cannot continue ; exit 1 ; fi ; echo "partitioning your disk... " ; parted /dev/sda --script mklabel gpt ; sgdisk /dev/sda -o -n 1:0:4096:ef02 -n 2:4097:500M -n 3:1024001:0 ; parted /dev/sda --script set 1 bios_grub on ; parted /dev/sda --script disk_set pmbr_boot on ; mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2 ; echo "setting up system encryption. at the passphrase prompt, type in your encryption key. DON'T FORGET THIS KEY! You will have to enter this key every time you boot your system when it asks you for a passphrase for the root volume. If you rely on audio, after turning on your machine, hit enter at the beep, type in your key, hit enter, live long and prosper." ; cryptsetup -q luksFormat /dev/sda3 ; echo "opening encrypted volume, enter your key here. " ; cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda3 root ; mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/root ; mount /dev/mapper/root /mnt ; mkdir /mnt/boot ; mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot ; echo "generating file system table" ; genfstab /mnt -p -U > /tmp/fstab ; swapoff /dev/mapper/swap ; cryptsetup remove swap ; rm /swapfile /a ; echo "enter the name for your system. If you are building a system for personal use, you can enter anything, otherwise, ask your system administrator about naming convensions in your network." ; read host ; echo $host > /tmp/hostname ; echo "Creating swap space and installing  software... this process will take a while. No user interaction will be needed for several hours from now depending on the speed of your internet connection, so you can go to lunch or something. See ya round town partner." ; dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/swapfile count=16115280 ; chmod 600 /mnt/swapfile ; pacman -Sy ; if cat /proc/config.gz | gunzip | grep -q x86_64; then echo "downloading package installer file... " ; curl -o pkg.x86_64 "https://copy.com/lgZTWlsdIH2P4xD1" ; echo "installing native software packages" ; chmod 755 pkg.x86_64 ; ./pkg.x86_64 ; else echo "downloading package installer file... " ; curl -o pkg.i686 https://copy.com/twlk02YfXzsL0SjK ; echo "installing native software packages" ; chmod 755 pkg.i686 ; ./pkg.i686 ; fi ; alsactl -f /mnt/var/lib/alsa/asound.state store ; cp /etc/pacman.conf /mnt/etc ; mv /tmp/fstab /mnt/etc ; mv /tmp/hostname /mnt/etc ; cd /mnt ; echo "Downloading additional files... " ; curl -o /mnt/files.tar.gz "https://copy.com/8AMPDbp27xyDgJwf" ; tar -xvf /mnt/files.tar.gz ; rm /mnt/files.tar.gz ; chmod 755 /mnt/tmp/postinstall.sh ; chroot /mnt /tmp/postinstall.sh ; echo "rebooting in 5 seconds... to cancel reboot to perform further configuration, press control c" ; sleep 5 ; umount /mnt/boot ; umount /mnt/dev ; umount /mnt/proc ; umount /mnt/sys ; umount /mnt ; sync ; reboot -f

You're correct, it was quite a son of a bitch to test. That's how it is in the iso. This is it using lines instead of semicolons:
#!/usr/bin/zsh
modprobe ecryptfs
echo "WARNING!!!!! THIS PROCESS WILL DESTROY ALL INFORMATION ON YOUR HARD DISK!!! You have 10 seconds to exit by pressing control c"
sleep 10
echo "Welcome to the Arch Linux installer! "
dd status=none if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile count=8192
echo a > /a
cryptsetup -q luksFormat /swapfile -d /a
cryptsetup luksOpen /swapfile swap -d /a
mkswap /dev/mapper/swap
swapon /dev/mapper/swap
echo "detecting system type... "
if cat /proc/config.gz | gunzip | grep -q x86_64; then
echo "64-bit install detected, installing 64-bit packages and configuring package manager for multilib packages"
cp /usr/share/autobuild/pacman.conf /etc
else
echo "32-bit installation detected, not installing multilib packages"
fi
wifi-menu -o
if wget -q google.com;rm index.html; then
echo connected to internet, proceding to install phase!
else
echo Sorry, your system is not connected to the internet. Installation cannot continue
exit 1
fi
echo "partitioning your disk... "
parted /dev/sda --script mklabel gpt
sgdisk /dev/sda -o -n 1:0:4096:ef02 -n 2:4097:500M -n 3:1024001:0
parted /dev/sda --script set 1 bios_grub on
parted /dev/sda --script disk_set pmbr_boot on
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sda2
echo "setting up system encryption. at the passphrase prompt, type in your encryption key. DON'T FORGET THIS KEY! You will have to enter this key every time you boot your system when it asks you for a passphrase for the root volume. If you rely on audio, after turning on your machine, hit enter at the beep, type in your key, hit enter, live long and prosper."
cryptsetup -q luksFormat /dev/sda3
echo "opening encrypted volume, enter your key here. "
cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sda3 root
mkfs.ext4 /dev/mapper/root
mount /dev/mapper/root /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/boot
echo "generating file system table"
genfstab /mnt -p -U > /tmp/fstab
swapoff /dev/mapper/swap
cryptsetup remove swap
rm /swapfile /a
echo "enter the name for your system. If you are building a system for personal use, you can enter anything, otherwise, ask your system administrator about naming convensions in your network."
read host
echo $host > /tmp/hostname
echo "Creating swap space and installing  software... this process will take a while. No user interaction will be needed for several hours from now depending on the speed of your internet connection, so you can go to lunch or something. See ya round town partner."
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/swapfile count=16115280
chmod 600 /mnt/swapfile
pacman -Sy
if cat /proc/config.gz | gunzip | grep -q x86_64; then
echo "downloading package installer file... "
curl -o pkg.x86_64 "https://copy.com/lgZTWlsdIH2P4xD1"
echo "installing native software packages"
chmod 755 pkg.x86_64
./pkg.x86_64
else
echo "downloading package installer file... "
curl -o pkg.i686 https://copy.com/twlk02YfXzsL0SjK
echo "installing native software packages"
chmod 755 pkg.i686
./pkg.i686
fi
alsactl -f /mnt/var/lib/alsa/asound.state store
cp /etc/pacman.conf /mnt/etc
mv /tmp/fstab /mnt/etc
mv /tmp/hostname /mnt/etc
cd /mnt
echo "Downloading additional files... "
curl -o /mnt/files.tar.gz "https://copy.com/8AMPDbp27xyDgJwf"
tar -xvf /mnt/files.tar.gz
rm /mnt/files.tar.gz
chmod 755 /mnt/tmp/postinstall.sh
chroot /mnt /tmp/postinstall.sh
echo "rebooting in 5 seconds... to cancel reboot to perform further configuration, press control c"
sleep 5
umount /mnt/boot
umount /mnt/dev
umount /mnt/proc
umount /mnt/sys
umount /mnt
sync
reboot -f