Best Lightweight Linux OS for Old or Slow Computers

Written by: Chris Flood • Edited by: J. F. Amprimoz
Updated Aug 1, 2010 • Related Guides: Puppy Linux | Linux

A lightweight Linux distro can breathe life into an old computer or make a newer one snappier and more responsive. This article highlights five standouts that bring modern features to ancient hardware.

Picking the Best Linux OS for Old Computers

A lightweight Linux operating system or "distro" (short for "distribution") can breathe new life into an old computer or make a newer one even snappier and more responsive. Dozens of these operating systems are available, but many of them are very barebones, outdated or potentially unstable. Of these options, three stand out as the only ones with advanced features packed into one lean download.

Unlike most other lightweight Linux operating systems, these three all include Linux kernel 2.6.x, GTK 2.x, basic packages, a word processor, web browser and email client; and spreadsheet, media playback and image editing software are either pre-installed or easily downloadable through an easy-to-use package manager. They are all out of beta, have an ongoing release/update schedule, are smaller than a CD (700 MB) and most importantly receive generally positive reviews.

Primary differences between these three are their initial download size, the packages available to them, the lightweight window manager and desktop environment used within the system, and the user community surrounding each to help new users make the transition. Read on to find the best overall, best Debian-based and best RPM-based distro.

Best Linux OS for Old Computers Overall: Puppy Linux
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Universally praised for packing more functionality into each megabyte than any other distro, Puppy Linux is the favorite in head-to-head comparisons of lightweight distros on ZDNet, Tuxmachines, and On Becoming a Penguin. A download of around 100 MB that includes everything you're likely to need from a distro out of the box, there's little reason to not start with Puppy and then change to one of the other two below if you find it does not meet your needs.

Pros: Puppy is the smallest distro on this list, but still packs as much software as the biggest. All but one review of Puppy 5.x at Distro Watch is positive, commenting on how easy it is to install and use and how there seems to be an application for nearly everything. Unlike other lightweight distros, Puppy has Flash support pre-installed and is the only distro here that worked flawlessly as both a frugal install and a live usb. Finally, the most recent release of Puppy is fully compatible with Ubuntu's massive repository of applications, and future releases will be able to access other repositories, thereby linking Puppy to the vast plethora of software available to other Linux distros.
Cons: Reviewer Darnell Anderson expresses concern that Puppy Linux might not be a good choice for "mom and pop" users. Other reviews point to some minor challenges with limited power management and concerns at being a single-user distro (so you are always logged in as "root") but remain ultimately positive. Firefox 3 can be unstable when using both Flash and Java, but this has apparently been a problem in other distros as well, and Puppy's default Mozilla-based browser SeaMonkey is no slouch and actually has some advantages over Firefox.

If you find that the most recent release of Puppy Linux does not work on your hardware, try the Retro version or an older release, which is based on older Linux kernels.

Continue to Page 2 for our top choices of lightweight distros based on Debian, RPM, and Slackware.

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Angie15 Cp Jan 14, 2012 4:36 AM

RE: Best Lightweight Linux OS for Old or Slow Computers

Personally I like either Vector Linux Light or Lubuntu. However I have used Slitaz and Puppy as well and both are good. They all use very light wm"s which are the way to go. You could also do a Debian net install to install a kernel, then install Xorg, Xdm and and a light wm of your choice, say jwm or icewm for instance.

nuanuantt Nov 14, 2011 2:57 AM

It's pity that I don't know how to use Linux:(

estimaterr Oct 15, 2011 7:58 AM

maybe this method can help my old laptop run a little faster...

oldrong Apr 5, 2011 6:47 PM

Peppermint

Peppermint, and Peppermint Ice are hard to beat for light weight, and speed. They are running well on some old stuff too.

goossbears Mar 14, 2011 2:26 AM

Narrowed down to only 2!!

I've went through many, if not MOST, of the previous suggestions for low-end distros. My bottom-end systems are and were PII - PIII CPUs ranging from 400-700Mhz speeds, from 64-192 MB RAM, and from 840 MB (that's right, MEGAbytes!!) up to 4 GB hd-space.

Narrowed down the top two to Damn Small Linux (DSL) and Puppy Linux on these machines. Why??
I had poor success on these PCs with Lubuntu, with Absolute Linux, with VectorLinux Light, and even with Slackware and with Debian.
Always one thing or another with these distros, requiring much troubleshooting and/or tweaking, for reasons analyzed separately.
And I was actually UNABLE to install TinyCore and SliTaz on the hd's of the above machines, although they both ran well enough from the liveCDs.

My own helpful acronym used to distinguish all distros used was F.O.S.S. Here F.O.S.S. stood for Fast, Organized, Simple and Secure, but NOT the typical Free and Open Source Software FOSS!)
1. F.O.S.S. Puppy rating
A 9 out of 10 for speed once installed, a 7 out of 10 for organization since I had some difficulties always finding the apps I needed in the menu system, an 8-9 out of 10 for simplicity due to a gotcha or two in selecting the right menu/icon app for a task, and a 3-4 out of 10 for Puppy's security where users BY DEFAULT annoyingly always run as root!!
2. F.O.S.S. DSL rating,
An 8 out of 10 for speed, an 8-9 out of 10 for organization with both its icons and its menu-system, a 3-4 out of 10 for simplicity as DSL's control panel and extensions-upgrades were often gotchas, and a 7-8 out of 10 for DSL security (nice to have to run root as 'sudo su' ONLY when needed!)

If you count up the F.O.S.S. points here for both Puppy and DSL, you'll see as I did that their total is approximately the same. Therefore, I continue to use BOTH of these two distros depending upon how I decide to WEIGH each of the F.O.S.S. attributes on a particular machine that gets Linux installed.

Anonymous Feb 26, 2011 12:37 PM

Not old enough

While Puppy is a nice linux distrobution, I found running it on a computer from 1998 with an intel celeron processor and 64mb of RAM, it was EXTREMELY slow, so I had shut the computer down and booted into windows

Chad Anderson Feb 15, 2011 11:07 PM

TinyCore

Saw this article in the Most Popular list while browsing the channel and had to comment. Just found out about TinyCore from Linux Journal's December issue. It's only 11MB! Talk about lightweight! Good recommendations overall here. Gotta give my thumbs up for the Puppy recommendation. I used to carry a thumb drive of that with me everywhere I went.

Dennis Dec 12, 2010 11:06 AM

I like older Ubuntu for old PCs

Never tried Puppy or others but have an old PC (Pentium 4 with 40 gig HDD and 1 gig RAM) and Ubuntu 8.04 runs really well and quick. maybe they are talking about older PCs but can't imagine much older than this (about 8 years old).

stuart Dec 2, 2010 8:29 PM

puppy isnt fully ubuntu compatible

Puppy is fully compatible with Ubuntu's massive repository ... sigh ... I love Puppy but lupu 5.1.1 isn't 'fully' compatible - infact i'm considering wiping my save file with all my ubuntu add ons and starting fresh.

Fatharrahman Tijany Nov 9, 2010 9:50 AM

nice opus

I would suggest ubuntu for light hardwares what do you think of this ?

Chris Flood Aug 1, 2010 2:00 AM

Slackware Recommendation

@oxl0n, it looks like you're already trying my recommendations for a Slackware distro. There's an updated version of this article that will be coming out soon and will include both as recommendations. I'd love to hear your experiences! Also be on the look out for spup, which is an upcoming version of Puppy based on Slackware.

oxl0n Aug 1, 2010 1:43 AM

Appreciated

I read your article on Slitaz (the more recent ones), and it has added to my interest in puppy linux. I shall download and try Browser Linux as well, but the truth is, I'm a slackware guy.
Please give me your reccomendation on a LIGHTWEIGHT slack distro? (besides tinyme/vector, which I am in the process of trying).

Also - keep up the good work ;)

Chris Flood Jul 28, 2010 2:04 PM

Re: What of SliTaz?

@oxl0n, I considered SliTaz for this article. While I'm in love with its concept, I have a hard time making a general recommendation for it, as I describe in another Bright Hub article (http://bit.ly/ciSv49). If you want a stripped down distro, I'd probably go with Manuel's recommendation for Browser Linux (based on Puppy) from the comments below.

oxl0n Jul 28, 2010 11:03 AM

What of SliTaz?

Great little article.

I would however, really like to hear your comments / analysis of SliTaz.
It is the single smallest Desktop distro out there, runs completly from RAM, and comes with pre-installed software.

Thanks

Chris Flood Jul 6, 2010 8:13 PM

Absolute Linux & Vector Linux Light

Azhar, both your recommendations are Slackware-based, which I did not include in the initial article. I'm revising it and will make a Slackware recommendation in the new version.

Chris Flood Jul 6, 2010 6:08 PM

AntiX & Browser Linux

Erik and Manuel, I'm glad the recommendations here have worked out for you. Thanks for the added information!

Chris Flood Jul 6, 2010 6:03 PM

Why Debian Install Was Not Recommended

Charles, thanks for mentioning the idea of just doing an install of Debian from scratch. This article only considers distros that come with basic packages pre-selected in the initial install. While none of these distros are for novice computer users, only a minimal level of tech savvy will get you going with Puppy Linux or the other recommendations.

Manuel from Los Angeles Apr 24, 2010 12:03 PM

Browser Linux and Puppy Linux (FTW!)

Browser Linux (based on Puppy Linux) is BLISTERINGLY fast on my 733 MHz / 256 MB RAM. It is an anorexic 65 MB in size as opposed to regular Puppy Linux at about 100 MB.

Browser Linux comes only with a stripped-down Firefox browser - and that's it! Well, it includes a few other basic apps, but not much.

But you don't need much anyway because nowadays you can do most things via web-based apps:
1) word processing & spreadsheets (Google Docs, Zoho Docs)
2) email (Gmail, Yahoo, etc)
3) Music (Grooveshark, Pandora)
4) Note taking, clipping (Evernote, Yahoo Notepad)
5) image editing (Splashhup)
6) online storage (Box.net, MediaFire, Skydrive, Mozy)
And of course, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.

I find that Opera 10 browser makes things feel even faster. Go Puppy Linux!

Azhar M Zakaria Apr 22, 2010 8:17 AM

Vector Linux Lite and Absolute Linux

I would suggest Vector Linux Lite and Absolute Linux if you want something for a change. With 4GB Hard disk space. I bet your old Pentium MMX 200MHz would be screaming aloud with it. Vector and
Absolute is my best choice if you are not into simplicity and if you are not a minimalist.

Charles Feb 3, 2010 6:24 PM

And debian?

Or you can just do a minimal debian intall... and apt-get till you have all the stuff you need?

Erik Dec 2, 2009 4:20 AM

Anti-X

I installed Anti-X 8.2 on an old laptop last week and was so impressed that I'm next taking the large mainstream distro off my main desktop and replacing it with Anti-X.
There is a downloadable min install at 237 MB, though I haven't tried it. For the 436MB CD I installed there's a one-button-hard-drive-install- from-CD option on the Live-CD desktop. In my case it hung on the "use my whole disk" option, but went fine with the (easy) "custom install" gparted alternative.
To my surprise, the ancient video card, usb stick, sound, and wired network connection worked right away, unlike my experience with either Debian or SuSE. Anti-X comes with far more choices of great light software on the menu than I'll use, so most of the post-install action has been figuring out what to keep and what to remove. (and removing/adding has been dead easy, thanks to the excellent simply-MEPIS and ROX desktop tools).
What a concept, a speedy system without having to buy a megabox.

Chris Flood Oct 29, 2009 1:08 AM

xPUD - Nice But Not Recommended

Unfortunately, while lightweight, xPUD is not necessarily a good fit for old or slow computers. It's designed to be a pared down web kiosk, but does not contain drivers to made it compatible with a wide range of legacy hardware. It failed to recognize my wireless card and provides little aid in finding or installing additional drivers. If it works for you, it looks like a handy distro, but I cannot recommend it in the context of this article.

Chris Flood Oct 28, 2009 11:51 PM

Re: A Few More Worth Mentioning

Victor, these are all great suggestions, and I hope readers will explore these options if they want to.

I did not consider them for this article for a number of reasons. Feather Linux, DeLi, Luit Linux, and DSL all used an older 2.4.x kernel, though Feather Linux has upgraded to 2.6.x since the article was written. LinuxConsole lacks most of the apps that Puppy Linux has, despite weighing in at twice the size, while, at nearly 700 MB, Dyne:Bolic is enormous as far as lightweight distros go. Finally, although iit starts quickly and automatically detected my wireless card (a rarity among these distros), SliTaz simply was not stable in actual use.

I will confess I did not know about xPUD, which could be a very useful ultralight distro.

For more information on distros considered for this article, see http://www.cheapskatereviews.com/search/label/computers.

Thanks again for your input!

Victor Sep 6, 2009 4:33 PM

A Few More Worth Mentioning

Like it or not, here are my 2-cents: FeatherLinux, Dyne:Bolic, SliTaz, DeLi, xPUD, LinuxConsole, Frugalware, Luit Linux (New?) and of course the ubiquitous DSL and DSL-n. These next few are good as well, but are either still in development or inactive: Fluxbuntu, KateOS, and 2-Disk X Window.

Best Lightweight Linux OS for Old or Slow Computers

Picking the Best Linux OS for Old Computers

Best Linux OS for Old Computers Overall: Puppy LinuxRating

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Best Linux OS for Old Computers Overall: Puppy Linux
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