10 Best Linux Distros for Old Laptop in 2022

Do not overthink what to do with the old laptops. Because there are lots of useful and best Linux distributions available that will revive your age-old computer. While the latest Linux distro is aimed toward modern hardware, the old devices still have chances. There is a wide range of lightweight best Linux distros for an old laptop available in the market. By getting them, your old machine will be back to its life. Almost all of the best Linux distros will bring you better performance without requiring heavy hardware requirements. You will get to know about the best Linux for laptops in this article.

Table of Contents

• When to Choose the Best Linux Distro for Laptops?
• Best Linux for Old Laptop
  1. TinyCore
  2. Puppy Linux
  3. Slax
  4. Lubuntu
  5. Linux Lite
  6. LXLE
  7. Q4OS
  8. Bodhi Linux
  9. antiX Linux
  10. SparkyLinux
  11. Peppermint OS
  12. Manjaro Linux Xfce Edition
• List of Best Linux Distro for Laptop
• Best Laptops for Kali Linux
• To Conclude

When to Choose the Best Linux Distro for Laptops?

If you are facing any of the situations below, then choosing the best Linux for old laptop works.

• When your laptop or computer is running on lower hardware and processor.
• If you want to access your old device and revive it.
• When you want to install a modern OS to reserve resources for another demanding task.
• If you are looking for the replacement of your current operating system and thereby install additional programs.

Best Linux Distributions for Old Laptops

Get to know the best Linux distro for old computers or laptops in brief.

TinyCore

TinyCore is one of the best Linux distros for an old laptop. It is a lightweight distro developed to run independently. Those familiar with the graphical user interface can use it with ease. By default, it uses busy box and FLTK/FKWM desktops. It is a minimalistic distro and has a terminal, basic text editor, network connection manager, etc. TinyCore is available in three editions, namely Core, Tiny Core, and CorePlus.

The core is the base system that weighs 11 MB and comes without a graphical desktop. TinyCore is 16 MB in size and has graphical desktop environments. Whereas CorePlus weighs heavy and is about 72 MB and supports WiFi and non-US keyboards.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 128 MB is recommended while 46 MB is a minimum with 64-bit
• CPU: Pentium 2 processor

Puppy Linux

Puppy Linux is a unique and the most lightweight Linux distro for old laptops. It is developed for home computers and is readily available for use. Puppy Linux features a user-friendly interface and includes common computing tools. Despite being smaller in size, it has lots of apps that are conventional. Built for fast performance, it saves everything on RAM. Puppy Linux supports live booting or you can use CD, DVD, or USB.

Unlike Debian, Puppy Linux isn’t a single distribution, rather it is a collection of multiple Linux distributions. It is available in different versions, while the latest being Puppy Linux 8.0 or BionicPup. It will consume your device resources as it uses Openbox and JWM as the window managers by default.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 64 MB while 256 MB is recommended
• CPU: 333 MHz

Slax

Slax is a modern yet lightweight Linux distro that is well suited for old laptops and computers. The best thing about Slax is that you can install it as a portable OS. You can easily carry it with an 8GB pen drive. This Linux distro is based on Debian.

In Slax, you will get pre-installed tools like web browser and Terminals for Linux. You can install the Slax on both 32-bit and 64-bit laptops. The total size of the file is just 270 MB.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 128 MB for application, 512 MB for the web browser
• CPU: i686 or newer

Lubuntu

Lubuntu is yet another popularly used Linux for old laptops. It is a slimmed-down version of Ubuntu, where L represents lightweight. Additionally, both Ubuntu and Lubuntu feature the same software as well as the repositories. Lubuntu uses LXDE as the desktop environment. Its lightweight nature clearly reflects the speed and the support for the older hardware.

It is based on Ubuntu 18.04 and Linux Kernal 5.00. You will get access to all the much-needed software as Lubuntu comes pre-installed with them. For instance, it supports Firefox, PDF reader, Word Processor, etc. For all these features, Lubuntu is the best Linux Distro for laptops with the latest hardware.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 512 MB while 1 GB is recommended
• CPU: Pentium 4/Pentium M/AMD K8 or higher

Linux Lite

Linux Lite is one of the best Linux distros for an old laptop. As the name goes, it is lightweight and doesn’t require high-end hardware. Its user interface is beginner-friendly and thus novice users can access it. Linux Lite is based on Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and is a fully functional Linux distro that works out of the box. So, you need not install any additional software to boot your computer.

Linux Lite is developed to give the best Linux experience on the older Windows PC. It has a zRAM memory compression tool and thus the distro will run faster on the old computer. Linux Lite distro comes pre-installed with all the major tools like Firefox, VLC Media Player, LibreOffice, etc. It can boot from a Live medium like CD, USB, or be installed using a hard drive.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 512 MB and 1 GB is recommended
• CPU: 700 MHz processor

LXLE

LXLE is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Lubuntu. It uses an LDXE desktop environment and is developed to revive the old laptops. The user interface is intuitive and attractive. The latest version of LXLE is 16.04.4 and is a remaster of the latest version of Ubuntu LTS. LXLE will let you improve the device performance and has lots of apps pre-installed with it.

Besides this, the LXLE distro has fully-featured apps listed under different categories. Other useful accessories include Penguin Pills, a Terminal-based Weather app, etc. The built-in uCareSystem can be used to install updates, update the packages, get rid of older Linux kernels, etc.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 512 MB
• CPU: Pentium 3 CPU or higher

Q4OS

Q4OS is the best Linux distro for 32-bit laptops and computers. You can also use the Q4OS on a 64-bit system with KDE Plasma. Like the Slax, Q4OS is Debian-based. It is a fast, powerful, and lightweight Linux distro.

Q4OS has the classic user interface, which attracts the pro users. Q4OS comes with a minimal installation kit that offers easy setup. In Q40S, you can tweak the admin settings without any restriction.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 128 MB
• CPU: 300 MHz

Bodhi Linux

Bodhi Linux is yet another lightweight Linux distro to get the best of an old computer. Use it on the old computers that have limited hardware capabilities. Based on the latest Ubuntu LTS, Bodhi Linux is termed the Enlightened Linux distro. It is built-in with the file browser, web browser, terminal emulator, etc.

It does not feature software by default. However, users can access Ubuntu repositories and thereby get access to tons of software from the online database. With one click, you may install them free of cost. The latest version of the Bodhi Linux is 5.0.0

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 128 MB
• CPU: 500 MHz processor

antiX Linux

antiX Linux is a fast, easy-to-install, and lightweight Linux distro for an old laptop. It is based on Debian and is one of the distros to come without systems. The support of icewm window manager makes this distro to run on low-end hardware devices. antiX Linux aims to give you a fully functional and flexible operating system.

This distro works for the novice as well as those who have experience with Linux. It is accessed as the fast booting rescue cd. It will work well on a live, USB stick, or on the hard drive. antiX Linux is available in four different categories like Full, Base, Core, and Net.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 256 MB
• CPU: Intel 64-bit and 32-bit architecture CPU

SparkyLinux

SparkyLinux is a lightweight and best Linux OS for old laptops. It is fast, fully customizable, and lightweight. It works out of the box while it has pre-installed software for common purposes by the home users. The GUI of SparkyLinux is minimal and has a built-in Openbox window manager.

There are two special editions available in SparkyLinux and include a Full edition and a base edition. The base edition has no heavy apps and thus is lightweight in nature. It doesn’t load your system resources. The full edition is loaded with apps and you need not install them manually.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 256 MB
• CPU: i486/AMD 64

Peppermint OS

Peppermint OS is a unique Linux distro for an old laptop based on Lubuntu. It works on low-end hardware. Peppermint OS is a mix of cloud-focused Linux distribution and regular desktop apps. Peppermint OS uses an LXDE desktop environment and you will get a smoother experience. It is created with the web-centric approach.

Peppermint OS works fast and is lightweight in nature. The open-source Firefox browser will help you enable a site-specific browser for cloud apps. It ships with the custom Ice application and the users can create site-specific browsers.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 512 MB
• CPU: Intel x86 architecture CPU

Manjaro Linux Xfce Edition

Manjaro Linux Xfce Edition is a lightweight Linux distro for old laptops. It is open source and is one of the fastest-growing Linux distributions. The users will get the power of the Arch base and you will get a fast and lightweight experience. It features thousands of software apps or you can install anything.

In addition to this, you can run popular Windows apps like Wine, Steam, PlayonLinux, etc. It uses Linux based OS and is more stable. Manjaro is available. With Manjaro Linux Xfce Edition, the users will definitely get a great Linux experience on an old laptop.

Hardware Requirements:

• RAM: 1 GB
• CPU: 1 GHz CPU

List of Best Linux Distro for Laptop

Get to know the list of best Linux Distro for a laptop below.

• Linux Mint Cinnamon
• Zorin OS
• Ubuntu MATE
• Deepin Linux
• Cub Linux
• Macpup
• Deepin
• MX Linux
• elementary
• Linux Mint
• Fedora
• Solus
• openSUSE

Best Laptops for Kali Linux

The best laptops for installing Kali Linux include

• Apple MacBook Pro
• ASUS VivoBook
• Dell Inspiron
• Alienware 17 R4
• Acer Aspire E 15

The best Linux distro for old laptops is listed here in this article. Most Linux distros are easy to install on your old device. Make sure you are installing the distro that uses low system resources. We recommend you choose anything from the above list if you want to revive your old laptop in an efficient way.

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