Which Linux distro?

[worshipme]

I'm going to be wiping an old XP install of a laptop. It is only used for browsing the internet, nothing else.

I need something that doesn't require much getting used to and is easy to use as there will be more than just me using this.

The main reason I will be installing Linux is that I'll be free from the duties of keeping the machine clean etc and I'm hoping it'll be a bit more responsive as the specs aren't great:

Intel Celeron M 1.5GHz
256MB DDR2 533 RAM
5400RPM HDD
Intel integrated.

Many thanks in advance.

 

[religion2386]

ubuntu?

 

[David Lindon]

Try fedora, you can't go wrong with that

 

[wmorri]

Fedora or Ubuntu will work perfect for that. Check them out Ubuntu or Fedora

Cheers!

 

[serani]

Mmm linux the sex of OS's

Ubuntu and kubuntu: i had extremely good outcomes with both, ubuntu is debian based while kubuntu is kde

there are also tons of liveCDs and minimalistic linux distros available

 

[FlightSimBoy]

Might be able to get Ubuntu on that. You have well above the required amount of hardware for it, but not recommended.

If Ubuntu won't work, there's always XUbuntu which has half the requirements of regular Ubuntu.

Fedora I'm not too sure about as recommended RAM for graphical mode is 512, and required is 256.

And if all of these fail, there is Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux, both of which were recommended to me on this forum for a PC with only 64 MB of RAM, a 766 MHz Celeron, and integrated graphics.

 

[mammikoura]

I'd go with ubuntu or kubuntu. It's a great os and the installation is quick and painless.

 

[Prodigy146]

i really like Xbuntu: Hardy Heron

http://www.xubuntu.org/

It was so easy to use

 

[worshipme]

OK, I'm probably going to go with Puppy Linux as I want something that is fast and responsive on this machine that is only used for browsing the internet.

But I have a question. How will this work with my Belkin Wireless G USB network adapter that I use. Can Linux auto-assign a driver or do I need to find a driver for it?

 

[FlightSimBoy]

You should go to the adapter's site and look for the Linux drivers. If there are drivers for separate distros of Linux, then you need to see what Puppy Linux is based off of (like Ubuntu is based off of Debian). I can't seem to find it. If there is just one Linux driver, then it might work, but you never know until you test it.

I know Wiki only says that Puppy is a live-cd only OS, but there is a way to do a hard drive install. I just never found out how to do it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppy_Linux