Best OS for old laptop for general use?

[CraigsCraig]

Hello! So my parents' laptop is around 13 years old now and it has 500MB of RAM ( ? ) and an Intel Pentium something something. They're currently running Windows 7 but updates soon stop for Windows 7 and I'm trying to find a new OS for them. They mostly use it for simple things like web browsing and maybe some Office things ( Powerpoint, Excel, Word ). What is the best OS to use on such a laptop?

 

[k1114]

I'm surprised 7 even runs well on it. My 11 year old laptop with 2gb ram hardly runs well enough on 7 and newer os aren't compatible. There's no point in trying a newer os on it. It likely won't work nor would it improve anything. Honestly a $50 tablet would be faster than that laptop. You're going to have security concerns for any non supported os when used for web browsing.

 

[CraigsCraig]

I'm surprised 7 even runs well on it. My 11 year old laptop with 2gb ram hardly runs well enough on 7 and newer os aren't compatible. There's no point in trying a newer os on it. It likely won't work nor would it improve anything. Honestly a $50 tablet would be faster than that laptop. You're going to have security concerns for any non supported os when used for web browsing.

And what about Linux?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Linux is your only real option.

I like Lubuntu as it runs on virtually anything and is reasonably fast. My netbook with 2gb ram and a weak CPU runs Lubuntu much faster than the windows 10 it shipped with.

Plus Lubuntu can be run from a USB drive as a trial mode so you can see if they like it.

https://lubuntu.net/downloads/

 

[CraigsCraig]

Linux is your only real option.

I like Lubuntu as it runs on virtually anything and is reasonably fast. My netbook with 2gb ram and a weak CPU runs Lubuntu much faster than the windows 10 it shipped with.

Plus Lubuntu can be run from a USB drive as a trial mode so you can see if they like it.

https://lubuntu.net/downloads/

I've used Linux before on my laptop but had trouble with finding drivers for everything. Could I have a problem with drivers this time too?

 

[k1114]

That could be better but it raises the question if they know how to or can learn how to use linux and different office software.

Linux has gotten more support but it is possible to run into the same issue.

 

[CraigsCraig]

That could be better but it raises the question if they know how to or can learn how to use linux and different office software.

Well I've used Pop OS before and didn't notice it being very hard to use. You have your normal browser and you have your usual office software

 

[NightHawkRMX]

That could be better but it raises the question if they know how to or can learn how to use linux and different office software.

Linux has gotten more support but it is possible to run into the same issue.

I suggest they run Lubuntu off of the USB for a bit to see whether they like it. Just remember, nothing is permanent in this mode.

If they like it, install Lubuntu and Libre office (which Lubuntu may come with i cant remember), which is mostly compatable with MS office. Libre is harder to use tho.
https://www.libreoffice.org/
OpenOffice is another option
http://www.openoffice.org/download/index.html

Well I've used Pop OS before and didn't notice it being very hard to use. You have your normal browser and you have your usual office software

Lubuntu will run faster than PopOS or Ubuntu. At least this is what I have found with my Celeron 2gb system.

I've used Linux before on my laptop but had trouble with finding drivers for everything. Could I have a problem with drivers this time too?

Basically, it should auto-detect hardware and use appropriate drivers. If it can't find drivers for something like a WiFi card, you may be out of luck.
Linux has gotten better lately with drivers.

 

[onespeedbiker]

If you are going to continue to use this old laptop (Make and model?) you should look into installing more memory. Fortunately the memory for older computers is usually quite cheap. Also, I would not worry about Windows 7 quite yet. Even though MS offical support for Windows 7 is about to end, it's likely MS will continue security updates for quite a while, as they did with XP.

 

[CraigsCraig]

If you are going to continue to use this old laptop (Make and model?) you should look into installing more memory. Fortunately the memory for older computers is usually quite cheap. Also, I would not worry about Windows 7 quite yet. Even though MS offical support for Windows 7 is about to end, it's likely MS will continue security updates for quite a while, as they did with XP.

Well currently I have a plan to add some more memory and extend it to 1 gig and maybe install Windows 8. But else probably Linux.