How to rescue an old laptop by installing Linux on it

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No matter how sprightly and speedy your laptop was when you first bought it, it will inevitably slow down to a sluggish pace eventually. And it’s when you reach this point that you can’t really put off an upgrade any longer.

However, there is an alternative way forward: Install Linux. While it’s not as well known as Windows or macOS, Linux has been around since the early 1990s and is comfortable running on laptops and desktop computers. It’s capable, well maintained and regularly updated, and completely free to use.

Importantly for our purposes here, Linux is also lightweight. Its demands on your system can be much lower than software from Microsoft and Apple, and that means your old laptop components can be given a new lease of life.

Due to the proprietary way Apple fuses its hardware and software together, this is really only something to attempt on Windows laptops (you can install Linux on a Mac, but it’s complicated—especially on newer models). So, if you have a creaking Windows laptop that needs a Linux refresh, here’s how to go about it.

What is Linux?

Linux Lite is one of the options available to you. Screenshot: Linux Lite

Linux is actually a collective name for a whole host of different-but-related operating systems known as distros. You don’t actually install Linux, you install one of the distros in the Linux family: Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Debian, and Fedora are some of the most popular, though there are dozens to pick from.

Linux isn’t as widely used as either Windows or macOS, and so generally, you’ll find less software available for it. There’s no Photoshop for Linux, for example, though there are some very capable (and free) alternatives. That said, several big name apps are available on the Linux platform, including Google Chrome and…

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