If you own an old desktop computer or laptop and want to breathe new life into it, a lightweight Linux distribution is often the only way to create a smoothly functioning computing environment. There is a multitude of options here and thus potentially a lot of confusion for both laypersons and advanced users.
Quite a few, therefore, resort to insecure Windows XP and negligently endanger their private data. So that you work, surf, stream, etc. on the safe side, here are the 10 lightest Linux distributions for old computers.
Linux with low system requirements
The applications are listed in descending order with regard to their system requirements. In the first place, you will find the operating system with the lowest requirements.
10. Peppermint
Peppermint is a cloud-focused Linux distribution that doesn't require high-end hardware. It is based on Ubuntu and uses the LXDE desktop environment to give you a catchy work environment.
Originally conceived with a web-centric approach for netbooks, the programmers at Peppermint developed an ICE application through which any website can be integrated as a desktop application.
In addition, there is a very neat guide for beginners with which new and / or inexperienced users should quickly find their way around. A support forum is also available.
Minimum system requirements for Peppermint OS:
- RAM: 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended)
- CPU: Processor based on the Intel x86 structure
- Hard disk space: at least 4 GB
9. Lubuntu
As the name suggests, Lubuntu is a member of the Ubuntu family - but based on the LXDE desktop environment.
Lubuntu does a very good job on both older and new computers. It's one of the lightest flavors of Ubuntu, so it's a good choice for older hardware, of course.
Lubuntu comes with GPicView for image viewing, MTPaint for image editing, Evince for viewing PDFs, the Audacious music player, the Gnome player for video, Guvcview for webcam use, the popular Chromium Bowser, Sylpheed for email, Pidgin for instant messaging, Transmission for torrents, Gnumeric for spreadsheets, AbiWord for texts, Xpad for notes and much more.
If you've used Ubuntu before, Lubuntu will look very familiar to you. Software and directories are identical.
Minimum hardware requirements for Lubuntu:
- RAM: 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended)
- CPU: Pentium 4, Pentium M, AMD K8 or higher
8. Linux Lite
Linux Lite is of course a stripped-down version of the classic Linux distribution. Even beginners can easily use this catchy operating system on older computers. Linux Lite is based on Ubuntu LTS (Long Term Support). The LTS version offers 5 years of support. This means that once you install Linux Lite on your computer, you should automatically receive updates for 5 years.
According to the developer, Linux Lite is ready to use right out of the box. So you don't need to install any additional software, which is of course pretty helpful for beginners.
Some of the pre-installed apps are Firefox, Thunderbird for emails, Dropbox for cloud storage, the VLC media player for listening to music and videos, LibreOffice for office work of all kinds, and Gimp for image editing.
Minimum hardware requirements for Linux Lite:
- RAM: 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended)
- CPU: 700 MHz processor
- Display: VGA screen 1024 × 768 (recommended VGA, DVI or HDMI screen 1366 × 768)
- Hard disk space: at least 5 GB
7. LXLE
LXLE is basically a further development of the Lubuntu LTS version. It is specially designed to revive old computers.
Although it's a very light Linux distribution, LXLE doesn't have to sacrifice an intuitive user interface and some design. The system is optimized to increase the performance of old computers and is supplied with a variety of light standard applications.
Minimum hardware requirements for LXLE:
- RAM: 512 MB (recommended 1 GB)
- CPU: Pentium 3 (recommended Pentium 4)
- Hard disk space: 8 GB
6. CrunchBang ++
CrunchBang ++ is also known as CBPP or #! ++ or CrunchBang Plus Plus. Crunchbang ++ is the clone of the dead Linux distribution Crunchbang Linux, which was particularly simple and resource-saving. The operating system is based on Debian 9 with a minimalist user interface. The latter is built around the lightweight Openbox Window Manager.
Here we have an easy-to-use and very light Linux with good functionality.
Some of the standard applications in Crunchbang ++ are Geany IDE, Terminator Terminal Emulator, Thunar File Manager, Gimp for image editing, Viewnior Image Viewer, VLC Media Player for music, the Xfburn CD / DVD burning software, the Iceweasel Browser, the Transmission Torrent Client, the Spreadsheet program from Gnumeric, Evince PDF Viewer, the gFTP File Transfer Client, the Xchat IRC Client and AbiWord for text editing.
Minimum hardware requirements for CrunchBang ++:
- There are no official hardware recommendations for Crunchbang ++. It should work with 512MB of RAM and a Pentium 4 CPU.
5. Bodhi Linux
Bodhi Linux is really very suitable for use on an older computer. Since there isn't a lot of software pre-installed, you will need very little memory to use it. Of course, programs are practically freely installable here as well.
The use of the Enlightenment window manager also makes the operating system extremely fast, which puts Bodhi Linux one step ahead of many other Linux distributions.
Should a problem arise with Enlightenment or another function of Bodhi, you will quickly find help within the numerous support guides.
Enlightenment comes with some basic applications like the fast Midori browser or the ePad text editor. There are no multimedia apps, but they can be installed quickly via the App Center.
Minimum hardware requirements for Bodhi Linux:
- RAM: 256 MB RAM
- CPU: 1.0 GHz
- Hard disk space: 4 GB hard disk space
4. antiX Linux
antIiX is a lightweight Linux distribution based on Debian Linux. The developers are very proud to be able to provide a systemd-free Linux distribution here. Laymen shouldn't care that the operating system is systemd-free, it is much more important for them that it runs well on old computers.
antiX Linux uses the Icewm Window Manager, which ensures that the system also works on devices with very limited resources. It has very little pre-installed software, so the memory requirements are low. As always, installing additional programs is not a problem.
Minimum hardware requirements for antiX Linux:
- RAM: 256 MB RAM
- CPU: Pentium 3
- Hard disk space: 2.7 GB
3. SparkyLinux
Third place on our list of lightweight Linux distributions belongs to SparkyLinux. SparkyLinux is an operating system that is basically very small in scope, but at the same time is aimed at modern computers. There are different versions with many and fewer applications pre-installed.
SparkyLinux is based on Debian and has several desktop environments including LXDE, OpenBox / JWM, e17, MATE, LXQt, Cli and GameOver.
For your old computer, you should choose the Base Edition. Here you can of course easily reinstall everything that you lack in terms of applications.
Minimum hardware requirements for SparkyLinux:
- RAM: 256 MB RAM for LXDE, e17, Openbox, GameOver and 384 MB RAM for MATE, LXQt
- CPU: Intel i486 or Amd64
- Hard disk space: 5 GB
2. Puppy Linux
Puppy Linux is one of the smallest and fastest Linux distributions. By default, it is only about 200 MB in size.
The system can, for example, be started very easily using a USB stick. But it is also possible to use it on CD / DVD. After booting, simply pull out the USB stick or eject the CD / DVD and Puppy Linux continues to run smoothly. The operating system is so small that it stores everything in RAM, which in turn makes it very fast. You can even put all your data on the same USB stick from which you boot Puppy Linux.
Puppy Linux uses the JWM and Openbox Window Manager, which keeps resource consumption extremely low. Of course, if you are using Puppy Linux on an old computer, you should try to install only appropriately lightweight applications and tools.
Since Puppy Linux is designed to work as quickly as possible, very little pre-installed software is included. There are, for example, AbiWord for word processing, Gnumeric for spreadsheets and various programs for graphic processing and media playback.
Minimum hardware requirements for Puppy Linux:
- RAM: 64 MB (recommended 256 MB)
- CPU: 333 MHz
1. Tiny core
Tiny Core is actually only 15MB! For its small size, however, this Linux distribution has astonishingly much to offer. It comes with a minimal interface and very few applications installed, but boots faster than any other operating system.
Tiny Core Linux grew out of the Damn Small Project, but is now completely independent. It works with FLTK / FKWM and BusyBox Desktop as standard. As with the aforementioned operating systems, you also have the option of installing practically everything from Office programs to multimedia software.
You have the choice between three editions: Core, Tiny Core and CorePlus. Core is the basic system that only offers CLI (Command Line Interface). This is of course ideal for your old computer, but less experienced users are unlikely to access it.
The TinyCore Edition is aimed at those. This offers a GUI interface (Graphical User Interface) that even beginners should be able to use quickly.
Minimum hardware requirements for Tiny Core Linux:
- RAM: 46 MB (64 MB recommended)
- CPU: Pentium 2
Conclusion on the Lightweight Linux Distros
In any case, installing one of the Linux systems described should not cause you any problems. You will receive tutorials, instructions and / or further support from all distributions. Always make sure that you do not select any resource hogs when adding additional applications. If you carry out the installation exactly according to the specifications or the prerequisite minimum requirements and do not install any programs that are too large / complex afterwards, your old computer will surely accompany you reliably for some time!
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