I have an old Exper netbook with these specs:
Intel Atom N455 @ 1.66 GHz
1 core, 2 threads
2 GB RAM
I want to give it a second life with Linux.
Right now I am considering antiX because it seems very lightweight, but I am curious if there is a better option for hardware this limited.
Would you go with antiX, or something else like Puppy Linux, Bodhi, Debian with a very light desktop, or another distro?
I am not expecting miracles. I just want something that boots fast, stays usable with 2 GB RAM, and makes the machine useful again.
What would you install?
Debian, of course. It's been my reliable standby for all old computers I resurrect. The XFCE version is extremely light and well-suited to old machines with little in resources like RAM and storage.
I thought about trying it, but it was 3.21 GB. I thought I would try antiX, Puppy, and Bodhi first. Then I decided on antiX. I might try XFCE via a flash drive.
Bodhi is pretty lite too. Interesting UI design.
Yes Bodhi was very good in terms of RAM usage. But it was putting more load on the CPU. My processor was already weak.
Hmm... Linux-lite?
https://www.linuxliteos.com/
I have not tried it. I do not know much about it. But I am curious about what it is like.
It's a very stripped down version, similar to Bodhi but no additional apps included and the structure for the UI is similar to XFCE.
I understand. But for now, I have installed antiX. I can also try that one from a USB drive and see how it goes.
The cool part is that the Atom N455 is fully 64bit capable, this gives you more modern choices.
Not so long ago, I installed Xubuntu on an AMD Athlon 64, it's okay. The problem is that the O.S. can run fast, but it doesn't mean that then everything else will be fast, e.g. YouTube over 720p is a no-go, and trying to navigate new websites is really painful due to the fact that now websites are basically apps.
That said, it's super fun, do it!
For now, I am going to try both antiX and Puppy from a USB drive first. My mind is still leaning toward antiX, but I want to compare both on the actual netbook before installing anything permanently. That old hardware should make the test interesting.