[muckshifter]

Like most companies, my employer has a stash of old, "obsolete" PCs and laptops that won't run the latest versions of Windows worth a darn. Naturally, this represents a great source of systems for testing the latest Linux distributions.

I thought it would be interesting to find out which modern Linux distro made the best OS for a supposedly "obsolete" old laptop. With this in mind, I requisitioned an oldie but goodie: an IBM ThinkPad 2662-35U (pictured here), with a Pentium III 600MHz processor, 192MB of SDRAM, and a 20GB hard drive.

Next, I set about collecting as many suitable 1-CD Linux distros as possible. These included copies of the latest Xandros and Linspire that had been provided to me for evaluation, plus free web-downloads of the latest Freespire, Kubuntu, Mandriva One, PCLinuxOS, and SimplyMEPIS distros.

http://www.desktoplinux.com/articles/AT8654567451.html

[Ian]

Good find mucks! I'd not even heard of PCLinuxOS before, so I'm checking that out now

http://www.pclinuxos.com/news.php

[floppybootstomp]

I installed PCLinuxOS recently, having a few probs with it, I can't seem to change the screen resolution

[muckshifter]

It's generally called PCLoS ... it was a dead Loss as far as my PCs were concerned also.

You have to remember one thing with Linux Distro's ... you don't find one YOU like as much as find one your PC likes.

As for Maddrivermeupthewallagain (Mandriva) ... I'm re-installing Suse back on in it's place ...


That'll be another "device" added to my stack @ WCG.

[floppybootstomp]

Aye, I've tried a few now and the only one I've taken to straight away is Suse. And that despite having to download and install most media aps.

I still haven't been able to get a download for Mandriva One though.

[muckshifter]

Originally Posted by floppybootstomp

Aye, I've tried a few now and the only one I've taken to straight away is Suse. And that despite having to download and install most media aps.

I still haven't been able to get a download for Mandriva One though.

I wouldn't bother ... I got it through FTP download and it went on as sweet as can be ... but I see the 'official' mirrors ain't offering the one I have ??

I just cannot get on with it. The thing that is driving me nuts, yeah I know, is how many fly-out-menus you have to traverse just to find something.


Been there seen it done it ... NEXT!!

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, I'll take your word for it, me stick with Suse

[muckshifter]

Originally Posted by floppybootstomp

Ok, I'll take your word for it, me stick with Suse

Well you don't have to but ...

One of the 'nice' things I love about Linux is, all the toys ... Superkaramba, now part of KDE, just makes the thing a whole lot of fun.

An important requirement to run some of them there "widgits" is PyQt ... damned if I can get it to install on either Mandriva 2006 or 2007 ... I've had one of the best minds on Mandriva working with me to solve it ... I'll give it another hour then I go back to Suse.

My analogy ...
Suse = XP
Mandriva = WinME (but understands 95% of today's hardware)

what are the differences between ...
Sunna updated to Mandriva 2007 Free
Mandriva 2007 Free Download on their site now
Mandriva 2007 Discovery
Mandriva 2007 Powerpack

Tried finding comparisons on Mandriva's Site but non available ... and then got this from another user;
Version Free download - is free (it's around there somewhere)
Discovery has your proprietary drivers ... (this is what I have)
Powerpack has everything for networking and hard core usage. (you need to pay for this one)


anyway ...

[feckit]

Cheers for the info, always good to look before i take the plunge
Would linux run on a P2 233 with 32MB RAM & 3GB HDD?

[muckshifter]

Originally Posted by feckit

Cheers for the info, always good to look before i take the plunge
Would linux run on a P2 233 with 32MB RAM & 3GB HDD?

I never manage it, and I have a 6gig HD ... WinMe worked fine though. I still think the HD is non Linux happy though.