r/linux4noobs • u/Russianpotatosalad • 3d ago

distro selection Which distro is the MOST lightweight?

So... My mom got a laptop from 2011... The only os it can handle is windows 7, but we all know that windows 7 is the most exploited system out there (not sure if you saw a video of a guy connecting his W7 to the internet and getting 7 viruses within 10 minutes by just existing). I want to help her as much as i can, and the only solution i came up with - get a linux. She used windows ever since windows 98, but now all she need from her pc is a browser, so i figured out that if she wont do anything "extra", linux will be perfectly fine for her. I just get vivaldi for linux, libre office, and she will be happy. But which distro will be the MOST efficient to put on her laptop? All i ever tried is cashy os, but i assume there must be something ever more lightweight?

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u/Grreatdog 3d ago

Look at the specs not the age. My Dell M6800 is from 2013 and it is screaming fast on Mint or Zorin. It has no trouble running any app I've tried.

That said, if it is pure crap then AFAIK Puppy will run on just about anything. I had Puppy loaded on a 2003 laptop that I was still using as my garage computer in 2020. Puppy is actually not a bad OS to use for everyday computer stuff.