I've an old Windows XP laptop that is now very slow and keeps giving me messages that I can't do this or that because the browsers are out of date and can't be updated. I had a go at Knoppix a few years ago and quite liked it, and was wondering if it would give the laptop a new lease of life if I got rid of Windows and put one of the Linux derivatives on...any thoughts would be welcome.
Ubuntu is always a nice option. If you put it into a USB stick, you can boot it straight from there without having to install anything and ‘trial’ it.
There's loads of distros you could try, have a look at distrowatch to see which are popular. Ubuntu as mentioned above or Linux mint would be good places to start. You might want to look at the 'lite' distros as well that use less resources if your laptop isn't that well specified.
I use Ubuntu for a server, and used to use Mint for my main desktop - it's not quite as good as Windows (as bad as it can be) but it's worth it if its not your main machine.
Linux lite 5 is very good. If you meet the minimum specs See https://www.linuxliteos.com/download.php Then yes, it'll give your machine a new lease of life. If you comfortably surpass those specs, Ubuntu is prettier, more newbie friendly and better supported. If you don't meet those specs then in all honesty it's time for the tip. My laptop manufactured in September 2001 finally went during lockdown after 8 years running GNU/Linux variants had kept it alive long after Windows could.
Go with Ubuntu and see how it goes, you've nothing to lose (it's free). There's plenty of free software to download and it's well supported generally. I wasn't that impressed with the GUI though but probably on a par with XP. Comes with firefox browser and lots of utilities like partition manager etc. Easy to setup wifi.
Pros - generally considered more secure, albeit by no means bulletproof. Will run better than Windows on legacy hardware Cons are, unless you use a lot of open source software on Windows, you're likely to lose a lot of familiar apps and that because it's a whole new OS with a while new UI, there's a steep learning curve to start with. Hardware support is good but you may find some things aren't supported out of the box and it isn't as easy to sort as downloading the driver from the manufacturer's website as most don't offer Linux support. Community developed drivers may exist but take more searching out. Perhaps a good place to start would be to ask what you would use this laptop for and hence, if its spec was up to installing Windows 10, what would be the must-have programs that you'd have installed before day 1 was out? As open source software is far less platform dependent, you can get most common Linux equivalents for free on Windows, to try things out on another machine before you take the plunge.
https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop Have a look at the try before you install option, just follow the instructions and it is pretty straightforward.
I'm just after something that starts and runs quicker, mainly for using the internet, family history sites etc. I'm pretty sure it wouldn't handle Windows 10, I haven't got it with me to check the spec, but I remember it having a Celeron processor when it was new about 12 years ago.
I wasn't suggesting you install windows 10 - only asking what your day 1 apps would be if you did, such that you could try some of the Linux alternatives on another machine to see if you could get the apps you need. Browser, office suite, photo viewing and editing, media players and converters are all available but say you had a satnav for the car which comes with Windows software to download map updates. There probably isn't a Linux version or suitable alternative. If all you're looking for a fast-booting browsing machine, a lightweight Linux running Chrome or Firefox,l or the Chromebook option are winners. If the hard disk is a SATA connector, I'd seriously consider blowing £15-20 on a small SSD (128gb is ample for Linux and browsing) as it'll give boot and app loading times a royal kick up the arse
