older computer, multiple boot partition?

[PikeMinnow]

Hi, I'm in a computer class. I was wondering if anyone knows of a good distro that will run on an Optiplex 240- that's the machine I was issued. It has 512 MB RAM, but I don't remember how much permanent storage it has. We'll be making our machines have two or more bootable partitions, XP, DOS, and an option for Linux. I've only ever used Knoppix, which is a boot-from-CD deal. I've never used a hard-drive based distro, what are people's favorites here?

I would prefer it to be in English and have a GUI, please. Knoppix, while great, occasionally frustrates me because of the German.

Thank you and have a nice day.

[oz]

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Mint, Mandriva, PCLinuxOS, or other similar distros should run on that hardware, and they are considered "easy to use" for those new to Linux.

[PikeMinnow]

Okay, I've heard of Ubuntu before, so I will try that one. Thank you for your suggestions!

[yancek]

I think you might have trouble with some of those full distros with the amount of RAM. See the Ubuntu hardware requirements page, 1GB recommended RAM:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/In...emRequirements

You could try googling lightweight linux Here's a link to a page with some OS's listed which is fairly recent:

What's the best lightweight Linux distro? | TuxRadar Linux

[Lostfarmer]

please. Knoppix, while great, occasionally frustrates me because of the German.

Have not used Knoppix for some years but it does have a boot cheat code to put in for english.

[MASONTX]

Ubuntu might run a little slow, but try Lubuntu, Puppy linux 5.1 or AntiX, they should run fine. Good luck with your class.

[nujinini]

Mint or Anti-X. But the latter is more light to operate, IMHO.

[SuperTico]

Vector 6.0 light or an older Fedora would run well.