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Hi, I have this ancient Dell Dimension V333 with a Pentium II 333 MHz and 320MB RAM that my family needs for web browsing, word processing, etc. What I need ...
  1. 02-28-2010 #1
    DrNick13
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    I Need a Distro

    Hi, I have this ancient Dell Dimension V333 with a Pentium II 333 MHz and 320MB RAM that my family needs for web browsing, word processing, etc.

    What I need is a distro that is easy to setup and install and easy to use because they have only ever used windows (and a little ubuntu).

    Thanks for the help!
    Dr Nick
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  2. 02-28-2010 #2
    oz
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    Welcome to the forums!

    Check the link in my signature for lots of good information on getting started with Linux. You'll find a couple of quizzes there that might help you to pick a distribution that will suit your needs.

    Otherwise, any of the top 10 or so distributions found in the DistroWatch.com page hit ranking list should be a good place to start.
    oz

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  3. 02-28-2010 #3
    DrNick13
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    I have tried a couple on the machine (ubuntu, damn small) but ubuntu seemed too heavy and DSL was not easy enough.

    Thanks for the quick reply though!
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  4. 02-28-2010 #4
    oz
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    Xubuntu might work well for you if regular Ubuntu is too much. Zenwalk is another nice lightweight distribution, but it's based on Slackware rather than Debian.
    oz

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  5. 02-28-2010 #5
    DrNick13
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    Quote Originally Posted by ozar View Post
    Xubuntu might work well for you if regular Ubuntu is too much.
    Tried the LiveCD of xubuntu (i realize that the load times will be longer because its a CD) and it just seemed laggy (like moving windows and typing in abiword)

    I'll have to try Zenwalk though... I heard about it.

    EDIT: Looked at Zenwalk... it looks like it needs a PIII but it will run on a PII (barely though) I cant imagine it on a 486
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  6. 02-28-2010 #6
    oz
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    There is considerable lag with liveCDs so they aren't good at all for judging how they will perform once installed to the hard drive, but they are fine for checking out what a distribution includes and looks like.

    Zenwalk should run pretty well on a Pentium II processor.
    oz

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  7. 02-28-2010 #7
    jayd512
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    Hello and Welcome!

    You might take a look at Puppy. Lightweight, friendly interface.
    Might be worth a shot for you.
    Jay

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  8. 02-28-2010 #8
    devils casper
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    There are a lot of light weight distros available. I prefer Puppy Linux for old machines. Check this poll too.
    It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.
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  9. 02-28-2010 #9
    reed9
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    I would give Linux Mint Fluxbox a try. It's probably the most newbie friendly distro I've seen that uses just a standalone window manager, and not a full blown desktop environment.

    Also Antix is good for underpowered hardware.
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  10. 02-28-2010 #10
    DrNick13
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    I'll take a look at the ones in the poll then post the results.

    Thanks for the AMAZINGLY fast replies!
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