this post was submitted on 20 Sep 2024
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Linux Mint, Ubuntu, Zorin OS Lite, Peppermint OS.
I'm a big fan of Mint. It's great for beginners but also for anyone who just wants to run their PC with minimal hassle. Considering those are pretty low power machines, I'd go for the Xfce editions too. Personally, I think Xfce is a bit sparse but it runs well on older hardware.
There are also a few distros specifically for older hardware, but I don't have experience with those. I'd suggest starting with Mint and seeing how that goes.
If you want blazing fast on an old machine, I always keep a flash drive with some good old slitaz. Can't beat that all in ram configuration on the slitaz minimal windowed version. But that's not really the question here. If the cinnamon variant is slow, xfce.
Coming from someone who nuked their grandmas computer and installed ChromeOS Flex on it since she can't screw that up too badly and just needs a Facebook/search machine.
Tho, now I am wishing for a ChromeOS Flex version that is just Firefox since adblock will be dying on chrome with manifest v3.
Chances are she won't even notice if you put Linux on her machine. My wife certainly didn't. I tried to explain the concept of different OSs to her but she didn't care. The Firefox icon looks a bit different, but that was the only thing she noticed.
I second mint But i always ask myself Manjaro or mint.. I am a total noob, but maybe you can clear that a little bit up, why mint and not manjaro
I was suggesting mint for cinnamon since it would be relatively familiar to anyone using windows, at least in form. Decently managed software store.