Sometime, We’ve all had that old computer that just went out of date. and that it has been piled up in some corner of your house What if you could give it a second life?
This is possible with the thanks to its vast repertoire of distributions with very light options that consume very few resourcesso they can be easily installed on old computers.
In this article we will present you with the best distributions optimized for old PCs that you can findso that you rescue that old laptop and give it a new opportunity to be useful.
List of the best Linux distributions to give an old computer or laptop a second life
Linux has an extensive one to work with almost any computer.and many of them are designed to have a low demand on resources, so They are compatible with equipment up to 15 years old.
Now, here is a list of 10 of the best Linux distributions with very low resource demands that work on your computer, regardless of how outdated it is:
lxle.net
It is one of the lightest distributions available. It is based on Lubuntuwhich in turn it’s based on and uses the desktop environment LXDE. It has many very useful tools installed nativelysuch as the office program LibreOffice either GIMP as an image editor.
All that is required to install this distribution is:
- Processor: Pentium 3.
- RAM: 512MB.
- Storage: 8GB.
Elementary OS
It is based on Ubuntu and has an attractive GNOME-based desktop environment.. You can download it from their website https://elementary.io/es/. It has a rather striking general design and to that is added all the pre-installed essential tools.
Although it could not be called the lightest distro available, the minimum requirements for its installation are:
- Processor: 1GHz.
- RAM: 512MB.
- Storage: 5GB.
peppermintOS.com
It has native access to the Ubuntu repositories, since its architecture is based on the distribution Lubuntu. Integrate desktop environment cinnamon and includes very interesting tools such as the file manager Ultra Smooth Nemowhich allows the transfer of files quickly.
Peppermint OS installation requirements are:
- Processor: Intel Core i5 (or any with x86 architecture)
- RAM: 512MB.
- Storage: 4GB.
porteus.org
It is one of the most recommended to use on old computers, since it is optimized to boot from a bootable CD or USB stick. It is so light that it can run on almost any computer, since it does not weigh more than 300MB.
Its installation requirements are very low, since it only demands the following:
- Processor: Intel/AMD.
- RAM: 512MB.
- Storage: 1GB.
pointlinux.org
It is a small distribution Debian-based using the MATE desktop environmentderived from gnome 2. It is available in two versionsthe full version includes all the programs needed to start using the OS as soon as it is installed, while the Core version only includes hardware drivers and multimedia codecs.
The Point Linux installation requirements are:
- Processor: 1GHz.
- RAM: 512MB.
- Storage: 5GB.
slax.org
It is an open source mini distribution based on Debian and optimized to work through bootable media, such as CD or memories USB. It only occupies 210MB of space, so it is installable on any computer. It also has an application installer that allows us to choose which programs we want on our enhanced PC.
All it requires to install is:
- Processor: Intel/AMD.
- RAM: 256MB.
- Storage: 1GB.
AbsoluteLinux.org
It is a very lightweight distribution based on slackware and compatible with 64-bit architectures. It includes a wide variety of tools installed by default, among which we can mention theLibreOffice as an office suite and even as a web browser.
It has very low installation requirements, as all you need is:
- Processor: Pentium 486.
- RAM: 1GB.
- Storage: 5GB.
macpup.org
It is a distribution based on puppy linux, with such a compact size that it is even executable in RAM memory. Nevertheless, It has all the tools of a complete Linux distributionwith a decent variety of applications and an attractive interface.
Its small size represents a very low demand for resources:
- Processor: Pentium 1.
- RAM: 128MB.
- Storage: 250MB.
ArchLinux.org
It is designed to work on 32-bit and 64-bit architectures. has its own application repository that is constantly updated. It is a very light distribution that gives us access to a package selector so that we can decide which applications we want to install on our computer.
The good performance of this distro does not require too many resources:
- Processor: 450MHz.
- RAM: 512MB.
- Storage: 1GB.
SliTaz.org
It has a system weight of only 100MB so it is very easy to run on old computers with few resources. Despite its size, It has all the necessary tools by default. to start using the computer as soon as the operating system is installed, it allows adding all the necessary applications within the capabilities of the equipment.
Your facility requirements are:
- Processor: Intel i486.
- RAM: 286MB.
- Storage: 286MB.
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