Linux for low end hardware

[Gilgameshie]

I got some old end hardware that I would like to get up and going again, (Intel Celeron duel core 2GB ddr3  laptop and AMD duel core ddr2) It's been about 10+ years the last time I even played with Linux and not sure what Linux distribution to try or how to even start setting it up. I'm sure this has been asked a lot in this forum but any help or a direction would be helpful. 

 

Thanks. 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Try linux mint mate or xfce. Pretty easy to use and runs well on low end hardware

[plus]

As long as your CPU supports 64bit operating systems, there are not many limits regarding the actual distribution. 32bit 386 support is fading out. Storage transfer speeds can be maxed out using SSD (and adapters if needed), be generous at swap.

So the main difference will be bloat/abstraction/memory-footprint of the desktop environment and common tools.

xfce is a good choice, lxqt isn't that bad either, I'm still using somewhat dated fluxbox + compton on old Thinkpads.

For simple daily tasks, alternatives like gnumeric and abiword are much faster than LibreOffice.

 

Most major distros provide installer options, meta packages or spin-offs for easy installation of lean desktop environments.

[wasab]

Peppermint OS. It is now my favorite distro for low end devices. 

[KaiLikesProgramming]

Lubuntu or Xubuntu are my picks for the beginners

[Sir0Tek]

11 hours ago, Gilgameshie said:

I got some old end hardware that I would like to get up and going again, (Intel Celeron duel core 2GB ddr3  laptop and AMD duel core ddr2) It's been about 10+ years the last time I even played with Linux and not sure what Linux distribution to try or how to even start setting it up. I'm sure this has been asked a lot in this forum but any help or a direction would be helpful. 

 

Thanks. 

I do use Antix and MX-linux on low-end hardware when the gpu isn't that great. For systems with at least a decent igpu/APU and 2gb or more I prefer Manjaro.

[Kidplayer_666]

Clean debian with xfce. I have a 2GB ddr2 Core2Duo machine which  is a breeze with pure debian