Which distro?

[KoolDrew]

What do you guys think would be the best distro choice for an older PC that will only be used for browsing the internet? See, my girlfriends mom has Windows XP on it currently and it runs incredibly slow. I don't want to downgrade to older Windows versions so I figured going with a linux distro would be the best option.

 

[irishScott]

I would recommend Ubuntu if you want to go with linux, but honestly, unless she's pretty tech savvy, it'll be a hard adjustment from windows to Gnome/KDE. You and I might not have a problem, but my family had to use the Linux partition on the family PC for a week while I troubleshooted the Windows partition once, and I was the only one with no complaints. Took my mom an hour to figure out how to open FF. :disgust:

Personally, I'd say downgrade to Win2k

 

[Robor]

There's a thread with great info on the different distros and uses for them

I would suggest Ubuntu simply because of the popularity & community support. If it's just going to be used as an Email and web surfing box you could put shortcuts to FireFox & Thunderbird on the desktop and let 'em go at it. Remember to install the plugins like Flash and codecs though.

 

[KoolDrew]

I would recommend Ubuntu if you want to go with linux, but honestly, unless she's pretty tech savvy, it'll be a hard adjustment from windows to Gnome/KDE. You and I might not have a problem, but my family had to use the Linux partition on the family PC for a week while I troubleshooted the Windows partition once, and I was the only one with no complaints. Took my mom an hour to figure out how to open FF.

Personally, I'd say downgrade to Win2k

I figured it wouldn't really be any different. In Windows to browse the internet you double click the icon on the desktop and browse. In KDE/Gnome you would do the same thing. Linux would only be more secure and faster.

 

[Zolty]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew

I would recommend Ubuntu if you want to go with linux, but honestly, unless she's pretty tech savvy, it'll be a hard adjustment from windows to Gnome/KDE. You and I might not have a problem, but my family had to use the Linux partition on the family PC for a week while I troubleshooted the Windows partition once, and I was the only one with no complaints. Took my mom an hour to figure out how to open FF.

Personally, I'd say downgrade to Win2k

I figured it wouldn't really be any different. In Windows to browse the internet you double click the icon on the desktop and browse. In KDE/Gnome you would do the same thing. Linux would only be more secure and faster.

Another vote for Ubuntu, but you should install it on your pc first and just use it to browse the web and do the things she would do. Then think of the amount of difficulty she would have with 2k. New computers are getting cheaper every day, you could just tell her to buy a cheap dell or emachines and remove all the bloat for her.

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
What do you guys think would be the best distro choice for an older PC that will only be used for browsing the internet? See, my girlfriends mom has Windows XP on it currently and it runs incredibly slow. I don't want to downgrade to older Windows versions so I figured going with a linux distro would be the best option.

How old is that computer?

I wouldn't want to run Ubuntu with anything with less then 256 megs of ram.

 

[KoolDrew]

drag, I couldn't really tell you the exact specs right at this moment, but I know it has less then 256MB of RAM

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
drag, I couldn't really tell you the exact specs right at this moment, but I know it has less then 256MB of RAM

Xubuntu may be an option. i have it on my laptop and like it, though its certainly beefier than an older system.

they recommend 128, but say you can run it with only 64mb.

Edit: after looking around a bit, puppy linux may be worth a try. Its too late for me to bother now, but I think ill try putting it on my usb stick tomorrow and see how it works.

 

[Nothinman]

drag, I couldn't really tell you the exact specs right at this moment, but I know it has less then 256MB of RAM

Invest in some memory, no matter what OS you choose getting the memory up to 512M will be well worth it.

 

[Rottie]

I am curious which distro is better for system like AMD K6-2 333mhz with 160MB ram (160MB is the limit)

 

[tribbles]

I second the recommendation for Xubuntu. The distro is pretty much made for older systems.

 

[irishScott]

With that amount of RAM, definitely Xubuntu.

 

[brutal]

NetBSD

 

[nweaver]

xubuntu should be nice.

Installing flash and codecs should be about all you need to do for someone. Going from XP to Ubuntu's gnome is probably about as hard as XP to Vista's Aero. KDE would probably be even easier, as they put the stuff on bottom (some people struggle with the menu/buttons/systray on top)

 

[KoolDrew]

Actually, I guess I was mistaken. I just had my gf check the specs and it's an old IBM with a Pentium 3 @ 440MHz and 320MB of RAM.

 

[Marinski]

Linspire or Xandros.