I have a Toshiba Portege R600-13X that's quite old and I'm looking for a Linux distribution that runs smoothly on it. Here are the specs: it has an Intel Core 2 Duo SU9400 CPU, 3GB of DDR2 RAM, and the Intel GMA 4500MHD graphics. I'm not looking for something feature-heavy, just the basics like a file manager and an application menu would be great. I previously tried Linux Mint XFCE but found it sluggish, and while MX Linux was better, I still faced performance issues. I liked using Arch with i3, but the constant need to install packages for simple tasks like connecting headphones became annoying. What distros do you recommend that might give me a better experience?
5 Answers
Alternatively, you could just run Windows XP and enjoy some retro games. Honestly, using Linux on such an old machine can be frustrating.
You might want to check the distro selection page in our wiki for some insights. Generally, modern distros with a full GUI can be quite slow on older hardware like yours. Lightweight desktop environments like LXDE or XFCE are better options. I recommend trying out Puppy Linux or Bodhi Linux; they both have low system requirements and should run decently on your laptop.
If you’re looking for something truly minimal, Alpine Linux with XFCE might be a good fit! Just keep in mind it might require a bit of tweaking, but it usually runs well on older hardware.
Lubuntu could be a solid choice for your setup! It’s designed to be lightweight and user-friendly.
Based on my experience, AntiX is leaner than both MX and Bodhi. It might be worth giving it a shot!
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