I have a Lenovo IdeaPad 320 from 2017 with a 64-bit processor. It's struggling with performance issues, and I can't upgrade to Windows 11 or install the latest updates. Here are my questions:
1. Can my laptop run Linux Mint with its 4 GB of RAM and Intel Celeron CPU (1.10 GHz)?
2. Should I stick to the built-in software installer for my applications, even if they're not the latest versions, or is it better to download directly from the software websites?
3. How complicated is the installation process?
2 Answers
1. Yes, absolutely! Just go with Mint XFCE for better performance.
2. It's safer to use Mint's built-in software installer. If you need more updated versions, Flathub is a good option. Be careful about downloading directly from websites, though.
3. The installation process for Mint is pretty straightforward, especially for new users!
Then just make sure it's from a trusted site. It can be tricky, but you got this!
You'll definitely want to go for the Mint XFCE version. It’s lighter on system resources and should work much better on your laptop than Windows 10 did!

What if the program I want is only on the official website?
Also, I'm really new to Linux!