I have a pretty outdated Toshiba Satellite laptop, around 15 years old, with an AMD E-300 CPU and 8GB of RAM. Right now, I don't plan to remove Windows 10 from it, as I just want to retrieve some files. But Windows is really sluggish, and I suspect it might have some old malware. I'm exploring lightweight Linux distros like Puppy Linux and Xubuntu, which has both a Desktop and a Minimal version.
I want to burn these to a disk to test them since the laptop has a DVD drive, but I would like to try them out first. I set up a virtual machine on a more powerful PC (8GB RAM and 2 CPUs, capped to 40% CPU usage) and both distros booted fine in CSM mode, but only Puppy Linux works in UEFI mode. I'm also curious if the Minimal and Desktop versions of Xubuntu differ in system requirements or if it's just about the pre-installed apps. Which of these three options—Puppy, Xubuntu Minimal, or Xubuntu Desktop—would be best for now? Additionally, if I decide to wipe Windows in the future, which one would you recommend for a full installation?
1 Answer
I'd go with Puppy or maybe even Sparky Linux for your old laptop. They're both lightweight and should work well without the bloat.
Sparky? I haven't heard of that one. How does it compare to Puppy?