Re: Old CPU OS?
ArchBang runs very well on an old laptop I have, so does some old slackware variants I've tried on it. Arch is a little easier to use though, so I stuck with that.
Haven't tried sparky...
But from what I can give you, Debian for me is the easiest to use (any variant - knoppix spin-ofs with GUI's are VERY light and debian-based and run on damn near anything.
Arch and slackware light distros are a little more difficult, but use OpenBox or as "heavy" as LXDE and you shouldn't have an issue - arch and slackware are very light in what distros are spun out of them (not all of course, but most are pretty lightweight since their mostly rolling-releases).
Gentoo and it's variants are extremely difficult for newer users - but give you absolute control of literally everything - all at once at install too (not like others don't, but this is serious about no-autoconfig stuff). Sabayon is heavy, but other Gentoo can be as light as you want it.
Or, Damn Small Linux is very, very light... but you'd better be comfortable with the CLI.
I choose Arch for old computers - ArchBang specifically because you can run it on a cpu powered by a couple hamsters on an exercise wheel and a potato battery.
Most of what you'll worry about is the GUI apps and Desktop Environment though, linux itself requires almost nothing to run. MATE and Cinnamon are pretty light too - but forks of GNOME so they take a wee bit more. Razr is even lighter than LXDE - OpenBox is even lighter, Awesome is even lighter... Unity or KDE are heavy and intensive - GNOME or even it's fallback are not much less than that - if any depending on distro...
That's my two cents I like ArchBang man, so I'm biased I guess
Last edited by JiuJitsu500; February 26th, 2013 at 02:29 AM.
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