Which Linux OS is most suitable?

Question

I want to install Linux on my old computer but I don't know which one's right for it. I have a Pentium III 700mhz processor and 256mb of RAM. Which would be the most suitable OS?

Answer 1

Hi There,

I also have been trying different distrubutions of linux by downloading the various live cd's and running them on my desktop and laptop.



The fastest one I have tried is Puppy Linux but you have to answer a few questions during the install. Not real technical ones though.



I like these for their appearance and usefulness:

Fedora Knoppix and Freespire



The "live cd's" can be booted and run from your cd drive without even accesing your hard drive which makes them a good option for salvaging files if Windows crashes.



Once you have installed Linux to your computer you will be able to add other apps as you need them. There are lots of choices



There can be a problem using your scanner due to the lack of drivers in open source operating systems like Linux. That is common to all the distrobutions of Linux.



Linux uses the "CUPS" application for printing and they will most likely work but you will not have the control you are used to with the Windows drivers. But they are OK.



All the distrubutions automatically connected to my DSL modem with no problem at all. You will need to configure your wireless though and you should be able to do so with a little effort.



Browsers: Puppy uses Seamonkey and it's fine; the others use Firefox and all of them work fast and well.



Office Apps: Freespire, Knoppix and Fedora use Open Office. Puppy uses Abiword and linux equivalents.



Multimedia Players: Some come with Totem installed which does not have codecs to play MP- 3 's. Fedora has Realplayer which should be OK.

But you can download VLC which will play about anything (audio and video) for any of them.



If you choose to download any application you will have an "iso" file which you burn to a cd using an application that can burn an image file to your cd. I use Burn CDCC which is a free download and is easy to use. First download and install BurnCDCC on your computer then after you have downloaded the "iso" file just click on it and BurnCDCC will open up. You can accept the defaults and follow the instructions. It's really very easy.



You will have a learning curve with any of them but it's always good to learn new things.

Below are links for the apps mentioned.

Have Fun.

Al

Answer 2

Hello;



Choosing a Linux distro is not easy. I have tried several and I there are a lot of good/bad things that can happen.



I would suggest trying Ubuntu ... it is easy to install, and it will work with 256 meg of RAM. The 700 mhz might seem a little slow (but that is going to be the case with any of the modern distros) I use my Ubuntu Linux on a 1000 mhz machine (256 Megbytes RAM) and it work very well.



http://www.ubuntu.com/



You might look at the some of the distros that are designed for older systems -- but I have no idea which ones are the best.



http://distrowatch.com/



Best of luck,



Bill

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Ubuntu is one of the easiest to use, as well as one of the most supported distributions. If you need more of a lightweight variant, Xubuntu is quite good (based off of the XFCE window manager). It's just ubuntu with a desktop environment which uses less resources than the default one.

Answer 5

Ubuntu Linux is a good Linux OS that is easy to use.

It can capable of running smoothly on that machine. download at http://www.ubuntu.com