What Linux Distro Should I Choose for an Older Laptop?

I'd recommend Linux Mint for newcomers. However, if programming is your focus, a minimal or network installation might be better—this way, you can avoid all the extra apps that come with general-purpose distros. A Debian 13 net install could be a great option for that.

Honestly, just about any mainstream distro will do fine; most perform similarly these days. Just keep in mind that what some call 'bloat' includes apps and drivers that might be useful for beginners. If you want a good UI, look into desktop environments like GNOME or KDE. You could really benefit from trying out a few different distros on a Virtual Machine first!

Your laptop is still good enough for full-featured environments like Plasma or Gnome. If performance is your priority, you can try Nobara or CachyOS for a speedy experience, but remember they may not maximize battery life. For a solid balance, Ubuntu and Mint are great choices. If you lean towards programming, you might end up on Arch anyway, so consider starting there if you're comfortable!

For your needs, you might want to consider lighter distributions that use interfaces like Xfce. Mainstream options like MX Linux, Linux Mint, or Xubuntu would work nicely, so you could also try creating a Ventoy live USB to test them out before committing to an install.

Go for Ubuntu or PopOS for a straightforward setup that works right off the bat. If you're okay dealing with the occasional package issue, Arch is an option too.