Ubuntu won’t save your old PC, but these 4 lightweight Linux distros will

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When I was doing my Master’s degree, I needed a cheap, small laptop that could fit in my motorcycle backpack and have enough battery power to get through about four or five hours of daily lectures. I ended up getting a used netbook for $50, but it came with a horrible custom distro of Linux that really didn’t let you do anything.

I replaced it with Ubuntu Linux, and the little machine with its single-core Intel Atom CPU and 1GB of RAM (upgraded from 512MB!) turned into a powerful little computer that ran office software, browsed the web, took notes, and worked as a perfect presentation machine. Today, Ubuntu would crush that same computer. Ubuntu has moved with the times, and its minimum requirements are similar to Windows. So, if you have an old, underpowered computer that used to run Ubuntu well, you’ll want to switch to one of these alternatives to give it a fresh lease on life.

Puppy Linux

The fastest way to make an old PC feel useful again

Credit: Puppy Linux

Let’s kick off with the Linux distribution you’ll probably want if you’re really running something old and slow. Puppy Linux comes in a variety of flavors, but in general takes up around 1-1.5GB of space. The OS is designed to load entirely into RAM, so it doesn’t matter if your computer has a slow hard drive or old SSD.

Obviously, it’s not a looker by any means, but Puppy Linux does come with a set of bundled apps that should…

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