Best OS for Old PC

[Nano Adam]

I have an old Dell Studio Duo 2. Which OS would be the best suit for it. It has 6GB Ram. I was thinking of Pop OS. 

[Nano Adam]

The computer is my side computer which I only use for with Visual Studio Code sometimes and YouTube and browsing. 

[ZeusXI]

Just now, ammar_code said:

The computer is my side computer which I only use for with Visual Studio Code sometimes and YouTube and browsing. 

popOS! or even Zorin 15 maybe. Ive been using that lately. Easy to set up, easy to do stuff.

[Nano Adam]

2 minutes ago, Genwyn said:

It's not really old enough for any one OS to really be much better than another.

Basically anything that's not Windows 10 or mainstream Ubuntu based Linux releases, just to keep CPU overhead down.

Windows 7, 8.1, Manjaro or other arch based distros, depending on the DE you choose the specific variant isn't important.

Ive got a couple of those mid to late core2duo laptops, Thinkpad z61m and SL500, the only big issues with any OS I've tried on them is that Windows 10 just seems to hate them. As well high ram usage with certain desktop environments in Linux is a problem, Gnome and the now dead Unity were just too much, regular desktop navigating lagged. XFCE and LXDE both ran fine.

 

You can try Wolvix. Linux for Wolves. 

I have used Windows 10 on that for more than 2 years. It works good except that I have to wait 5 minutes after startup for the computer to get to its speed.

 

The computer was even put under compiling load and worked just fine.

 

The reason I want a new OS is so I can develop on Unix based

[Nettly_]

Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Ubuntu MATE, Xubuntu, Kubuntu, Lubuntu
From worst to best on older hardware. All can work fine.

[wasab]

Windows 95

[Nano Adam]

1 hour ago, wasab said:

Windows 95

wow. I never knew that

[Kunal Pandey]

I suggest you getting Manjaro Linux. Its very good + great customization via gnome.

Here's the link for Manjaro's website.https://manjaro.org/

[Nano Adam]

One issue I face with Ubuntu on that computer is that when it boots it goes to a purple screen. I used many of the methods but none of them work. 

I am installing PopOS right now. Let's see how it goes. 

[Nano Adam]

25 minutes ago, Johnson_McBig said:

PopOS. It's a pretty no-bullshit OS. I was using Ubuntu 18 before, because I couldn't get 19 to work, but PopOS 19 worked like a charm and everything runs as smooth as butter when compared to Ubuntu.

Oh and I also got it working on a laptop with a dual-core pentium and 2gb of ram. So you should be good, since I'm pretty sure you got 4.

I just installed pop os yesterday and I am surprised by its speed. When we think about, why do we become too harsh to our old pcs by not using them anymore since anything old works longer than anything today?

 

Just like old is gold. Just like PopOS and these other OS's, these help us care for our old PC's.  

 

I remember that when my new HP Pavilion started giving me issues in like 8 months, the same pc helped me get through my homework and so did my other old ones.

 

I think there should be a company that takes Old Pc's and probably installs a good OS for it that will run it just like new.

[Nano Adam]

6 hours ago, georgezilla said:

Acer 5742-7620

 

Intel Core i3 370M @2.4GHz 2core/4threads

4GB Ram

 

Running opensuse Leap 15.1 ( Kernel 5.1.4.1 )

120GB SSD

 

Runs just fine.

I think your advantage is the SSD. Usually, an SSD computer will perform better. My computer is sitting with an HD. Deciding to not upgrade since it runs just fine on an HD. Only Windows is a little slow. But PopOS is just fine. 

[SpencerTech]

deepin 15.10

[gentlemanspot]

i link MX linux haha its nice and light 

[cretsiah]

a bit late but you could try Q4OS with the Trinity DeskTop

[Nano Adam]

10 hours ago, cretsiah said:

a bit late but you could try Q4OS with the Trinity DeskTop

Thanks

[Talon_3361]

Here's my picks:

• MX Linux
• Manjaro
• Ubuntu (and it's flavors like Kubuntu, Xubuntu)
• Linux Mint
• KDE Neon
• Pop!_OS
• Debian
• Arch
• Fedora
• OpenSUSE

[tridy]

Are any of those distros optimized for touch-screens?

[Talon_3361]

OP never mentioned touchscreens (that I could find). Perhaps try starting your own thread or Googling it to see what you can find if you need one that supports touch interfaces. AFAIK Ubuntu and Ubuntu-based seem to do OK with that.

[Dat Guy]

On 7/30/2019 at 9:18 PM, ammar_code said:

Which OS would be the best suit for it.

Stay the hell away from Linux distributions. They're unnecessarily fat.

Upgrade to BSD, e.g. OpenBSD.

[wasab]

15 hours ago, Dat Guy said:

Stay the hell away from Linux distributions. They're unnecessarily fat.

Upgrade to BSD, e.g. OpenBSD.

Stay away from all modern day operating system. 

[Dat Guy]

I disagree with the notion that a system which still relies on emulating mid-70s hardware (Teletypes) for its very basic core functionality should be considered a "modern day operating system".

[SwedBertha]

Running Linux Mint 19 on my old Laptop from 2012, 4gb ram and a slow i5-quad core I can't remember.

Anything with less than 8 GB of ram I would say Lubuntu, Mint or Ubuntu based. Choose a DE more carefully than distro.

[Nano Adam]

I was able to use Pop OS which runs amazingly. No issues so far.

[Tristerin]

I just had the same thing happen - received an old laptop with an i7 620m and 2gb ram - had Windows 10 on it but was unusable in that state.  Got some info from this forum and was helped putting in a Manjaro distro that really made the laptop responsive in comparison for sure.  Now sure how Pop OS is but Im really happy with Manjaro so far

[The_Prycer]

I always recommend Puppy Linux because of how little system resources it uses so even older units with 2GB or less of RAM still feel refreshed.

 

Plus I just enjoy the barking sounds it makes.