Best os for old laptop

[King_BR0K]

I will be getting a cupple of old slow windows 7 laptops and am looking to make them into useable machined for light web use (and maby steam in home streaming), should i stick with windows 7 or try linux?

[⛧EyMi Mayhem⛧]

I would suggest ubuntu/linux mint a try.
Or lubuntu, was desigend to be lightweight and should work fine.

[King_BR0K]

iv never used linux, is it hard to get used to as a longtime windows user?

[⛧EyMi Mayhem⛧]

Diposting pertama kali oleh AKing1:

iv never used linux, is it hard to get used to as a longtime windows user?

Not rly that hard. Maybe an confusing UI at the first time.
But for typical everyday use there's nothing tricky or technical you need to learn.
You can do pretty much everything you have been doing in a win (or mac).
And if it's for web use, it's like doing it on windows.
A nice plus for linux, any potato toaster whatever can run linux without flaws.

And a cool thing, you can create a boot dvd and try linux/ubunutu as "demo" without installing, straight from the boot device.

All i can tell from my experience back in the days.
I'm running now windows/mac.

[Omega]

Ubuntu is Linux on easy mode. You can use it for years without ever having to use the terminal. You can get most software via the included software center. In some ways it's easier to use then Windows 10.

If those machines are really slow Puppy Linux will be a great choice. The entire OS is only 250mb and will run from the RAM making the PC lighting fast.

[Dr.Shadowds 🐉]

I recommend use common used Linux OS's, such as Linux Mint, Ubuntu, etc, as you will find guides, and answers to your questions quicker. Check out some of the linuxs OS's on YouTube, as there's a large variety of them, some you can demo them from disks, or thumb drives, before installing them to get an idea what they're like using one.

I have a old laptop, but I end up keeping my laptop on windows, mainly because of the convenience, for some applications, as I had to jump some hoops just to get it working on Linux.

Also when you install your Linux OS, make sure to do updates first, before doing anything else.

[King_BR0K]

thanks for the advice i think ill try Ubuntu or puppy linux if needed

[chiefputsilao✖️ping]

as an added bonus, you can try 'live ubuntu mode'... it is like running the OS without permanent installation.

[Mossy Snake]

Ubuntu.

It's the easiest OS ever. It's the kind of thing I'd recommend to grandparents...

[Omega]

Yeah, you can run it from a DVD or flashdrive without having to install it. So you can try the OS before installing.

[RGX12]

You didn't say *how* old the laptop is, because I've generally found Win 7 to run pretty good on older machines. But if you think your laptop is struggling, you have at least two really good choices for Linux:

My top choice would be Linux Mint, XFCE edition. This is what I install on clients' machines that had been running Windows XP, and where a new OS has to be installed (usually after replacing hard drive). Runs excellently on a wide array of older hardware, and the nice graphical interface won't be a "culture shock" coming from Windows.

Second choice would be Slitaz Linux. Easy to use, comes with a good assortment of pre-installed software, and it's very light weight, so it'll run on virtually anything made in the last 10 years (or more).

[HypersleepyNaputunia]

ubuntu very easy but bloated
debian will probably be better bet and choose lxde window manager

[Crac]

Q1. should i stick with windows 7 or try linux?
A1. Well you can do both. You can certainly look at Linux, you can ‘try’ a live system and duel boot Windows and Linux.

I think it comes down to what you want to do (and what will be done) with the laptops and any other restrictions (Like internet)? The software updates on Linux are often very very small, I’m critical of bandwidth and it simply isn’t an issue, with a handful of machines running. Valve’s Steam client burns more data than the rest of the entire system.


Q2. iv never used linux, is it hard to get used to as a longtime windows user?
A2. No in practice: I herd technophobes through Ubuntu, it’s just a computer and most people manage fine doing the same tasks the same way. Tools are logically named and icons are large (scaleable), brightly and distinctive coloured.

While the idea of change is very difficult, I just think about the installation: On (Ubuntu) Linux it’s a beautiful graphics interface with 6 question over 4 pages you spend 5 minutes WHILE the installation is running, the machine asks to be restarted once after like 10 minutes and blam it’s running Linux!
With Windows 10, it was 42 steps and 30 minutes of tedious reading, prodding, multiple restarts, flickering black screens and settings page after settings page full of toggles.

End of the day you have “Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, Videos and a Rubbish Bin”. When you click on your photos, music and videos they open. You should be able to open and edit most of your Microsoft files. You might recognise Chrome, Firefox, VLC, Steam and quite a few other tools. Outside of that we have a Clock, a Calendar, a Text Editor… all the usual stuff. If you want something fancy you download it from your distribution’s Software Centre (app store) should need to go further afield most Debian-based distributions can use Debian packages and if it isn’t there, it isn’t on Linux!

I would say in fairness, many of us spend our lives learning and ‘re-learning’ Windows: Another bloody version of the OS, another bloody version of Office, How do I print? Or where's that bloody menu I’m looking for...


My last general comment.

I slightly disagree with calling Ubuntu “bloated” plus I feel it is a little irrelevant given the comparison is Windows 7. The graphics (Desktop Environment), web browser and Office suites are what defines a Linux distribution.

End of the day a decade old bargain basement laptop isn’t going to run the same software at the same speed. If we need alternative solutions, these are available. From my personal perspective, Linux can extend the life of hardware, but let’s separate our show-horses from mules?

I wonder if the OP might would be interested in these:
https://www.lifewire.com/best-linux-desktop-environments-4120912

And match to the flavours of *buntu, (The Vanilla Ubuntu uses “Unity”):
https://www.ubuntu.com/about/about-ubuntu/flavours

[Seven7]

use xubuntu: simple as ubuntu for beginner, + light weight DE xfce, tthat work perfect on old hardware like PIII with 512Mb ram 32Mb video