Best lesser-known distribution/DE for low-end machines?

I know Debian and others can breathe life into older machines. But i wonder if there are any distros with serious optimizations that I haven’t heard of. I’ve already tried MX Linux on an old Thinkpad SL400, and didn’t see any difference from plain Debian.

Update: thanks for the great suggestions. Forgot to say many distros feel zippy and fast until you open a web browser. Appreciate your thoughts on which web browser to use too. So far I’ve had a positive experience with Thorium and Chromium.

ReversalHatchery,

If you have any expectation of privacy, you shouldn’t use chromium based browsers. Their purpose is not privacy, and google actively makes sure it will never be.

llothar,

The problem with older machines is the web browsing, not the system itself. You could use a browser with Java script disabled but a lot of websites will refuse to work.

You have to sacrifice with browser functionality to improve performance.

lemmyvore,

I’ve had good experiences with Midori and Dillo as alternative browsers on low-memory machines. Obviously features will take a hit but they’re surprisingly functional. Don’t expect to be able to open many tabs but you can do the usual things including YouTube etc.

agressivelyPassive,

Yep. All this optimization you see here about “minimal installs” and which DE to choose is completely moot, if opening Firefox takes up more RAM than the entire operating system.

Even 4gb are really low these days, if you actually want to do something in the browser.

spider,

Q4OS

mfat,

Wow they even offer the Trinity DE :) thanks

spider, (edited )

In earlier Q4OS versions Trinity was the only desktop environment. I still run it even though there’s plenty of power on hand to run the others. It just works.

mfat,

I always have a sweet spot for KDE 3.5. I remember how responsive and tast it was on my Pentium PC some 15 years ago.

spider, (edited )

Q4OS will release an updated version within a few weeks, so if you’re interested, keep an eye on the home page’s “Latest News”.

(The developers are quite active in the forum, too.)

MigratingtoLemmy,

Puppy/bodhi

Presi300,
@Presi300@lemmy.world avatar

AntiX/MX Linux, I’ve had great success getting them to boot on systems that were refusing to boot anything else, AntiX is my go-to distro for bringing new life to old hardware, it works with literally anything you throw at it.

qyron, (edited )

Bunsen Labs Linux and, for the experience, Tiny Core Linux

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