easiest Linux similar to windows?

henm2

There are a few very good Linux OS s that will work on an old machine. You need the 32 bit versions not the 64 bit ones. Linux Mint 18 xfce, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Zorin, Peppermint, Solydx, PCLinuxOS light, LXLE.

blakbruker

Not similar to Windows but with such a small hard drive you could try Remix OS. It's an android OS for x86 processor machines that runs apps in "Windows". If you're used to Android you might like it, I tested it on my laptop and it's sweet!

Ah, just seen Jshm2's post had already mentioned it!

ICATQ

Try Linux Lite - ie light on resources, I tried it out on an old laptop which has the minimum spec 512Mb RAM and it was fine. Comes with all the tools and resources you need to do basic stuff. The ISO was only 990Mb.

esuhl

jshm2 wrote: »

Standard Linux wouldn't be much use on it. The old style SSDs had lopsided performance issues and died rather quickly too (I think it was after 100,000 write erase cycles).

I'm running standard Linux (v. 4.8.6) on my EEE 901, and have been for years. It's very reliable; no problems so far, although I don't use it very heavily.

jshm2 wrote: »

Depending on model, you can replace the drive to a bigger and faster one.

Not sure I'd bother. You don't need a huge amount of space on such a basic machine. And you can use an SD card to reduce SSD wear. But you could give it a go, if you're feeling adventurous:

https://blog.binarymist.net/2013/05/25/upgrade-linux-eee-pc-901-4gb-ssd/

kwikbreaks

I have a Lenovo Ideapad S12 which originally came with XP. After a little magic courtesy of NiftyDigits I upgraded it to Win7 which it did run but not especially enthusistically even with an SSD. As I had a ridiculously cheap tablet which was running Win 10 reasonably well I tried the move to Win 10. Running that was like wading through treacle.

I saw a thread here the other day about Cloudready so gave that a try - it worked fine but having a small laptop which couldn't do as much as my Android tablet seemed a bit pointless so after trying a couple of live distros I've installed lubuntu on it today - it runs pretty well and I even got the WiFi adapter and software switch working correctly after a bit of googling around. Only issue is that the inbuilt WiFi card is B/G only. IIRC I did try a G/N card but it wouldn't work with the software switch and was always off but I intend to try to find it and see how it goes. I does work with a cheap USB adapter I have anyway but I'd prefer not to be using that.

Of course I've done little with it so far but it does look like Linux may be becoming a bit more mainstream.

martinthebandit

Another recommendation for lubuntu from me.

If I remember correctly there was a bit of a learning curve to get it working how I wanted it but well worth doing.

Moon_Keh

I'm using Lubuntu on my desktop. Plain to some, but functional. I'm not a great fan of non-essential screen candy.

Using an Eee901 with Lubuntu sounds OK. I've had Mint Xfce running fine on an EeeBox B202 and I think that's a roughly similar spec to the EeePC 901 (can someone check that and confirm it please?). As an aside, that second-hand B202 was the best £25 I've ever spent.

I've got an Eee4G Surf using Trisquel Mini and plodding along quite happily (but I'm not going to suggest that you use that distro as a first choice for yourself). I installed to a 64GB USB stick because of size limitations with the SSD more than any concern regarding its longevity. However, when playing about I found that it's very easy to exceed the capacity of a small drive with updates, and when the software you download and install doesn't cost you, you sometimes get a bit carried away.

The dimensions of the USB stick I used are tiny so it doesn't create an obstacle. It took me a few goes to select the right options during installation to the USB stick, largely the result of a lack of experience on my part and doing it when tired. Installation to the SSD was very straightforward.

If the machine you have isn't needed for anything too critical you could always just use the SSD for the install and take the USB stick route should the SSD pack up at some point in the future.

"Lighter" Distros I have tried include Zorin Lite (my opinion dropped the longer I used it), Crunchbang (no longer under development, unsure about its successors), Puppy (in my opinion a right ruddy mess but praised so often that someone must have a use for it), Tiny Core (I think the issue is that I don't understand it), and Slax (a complete abomination that does nothing well, and often nothing at all). Have also tried Ubuntu Netbook Remix (it isn't very good) and Bodhi (I recall a seething hatred but not the reason).

NiftyDigits

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I have a Lenovo Ideapad S12 which originally came with XP. After a little magic courtesy of NiftyDigits I upgraded it to Win7 which it did run but not especially enthusiastically even with an SSD. As I had a ridiculously cheap tablet which was running Win 10 reasonably well I tried the move to Win 10. Running that was like wading through treacle.

I saw a thread here the other day about Cloudready so gave that a try - it worked fine but having a small laptop which couldn't do as much as my Android tablet seemed a bit pointless so after trying a couple of live distros I've installed lubuntu on it today - it runs pretty well and I even got the WiFi adapter and software switch working correctly after a bit of googling around. Only issue is that the inbuilt WiFi card is B/G only. IIRC I did try a G/N card but it wouldn't work with the software switch and was always off but I intend to try to find it and see how it goes. I does work with a cheap USB adapter I have anyway but I'd prefer not to be using that.

Of course I've done little with it so far but it does look like Linux may be becoming a bit more mainstream.

That doesn't seem right. My ZG5, which I'm using right now, is of similar spec and is running Windows 7 smoothly. on 1.5GB of RAM and an SSD.
Did we check that AHCI was applied?

Stupefied

Linux Mint is Ubuntu based but looks nicer and is a lot more like Windows. Get the Cinnamon version.

As stated Office will run under Wine, certainly an older version will anyway. Or use Office 365.

kwikbreaks

NiftyDigits wrote: »

Did we check that AHCI was applied?

Yes it was. I also had an old EEE Box that you helped me with at the time and the bios or hardware wouldn't support it so that one was certainly a bit of a laggard. I haven't powered it up in a long time.

I still have the Win 7 install as a USB bootable so will maybe try that again. A lot of this stuff is subjective and even some websites put quite a loading on old kit.