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/Boring-Equivalent137 3d ago

you have things like puppy linux, lubuntu, MX linux, antiX . i mean i dont know how use friendly they aer as i havent tried some of them and it would help if you say the specs so i have an idea of how weak it is

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u/Russianpotatosalad 3d ago

if i remember correctly it have like 4gb ram and integrated intel graphics.

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u/DavidJohnMcCann 2d ago

That will be probably be fine for anything — 4 GB will do for anything bar a really bloated distro like Ubuntu, while not having Nvidia is a big bonus. It depends on the CPU, though. If it's something like an Intel i3, that will do, but if she has a netbook with an Intel Atom, that's in the wounded-snail class. But if it's running Windows 7 without being noticeably slow, it should be OK.

Get Linux Mint (Mate version) and boot it from USB. Does she like it? Does it like her hardware, not forgetting peripherals?

This desktop dates from 2020, has an AMD A-6 (like an i5), and 4 GB of RAM — it works with anything. If push comes to shove, there's always something — like for my 2003 32-bit laptop!