what would you recomend (linux for an old laptop)

[hawk125]

I have just found my old laptop (tulip) its about 4 or 5 years old and it (used to) run windows xp but it is completely screwed up so i will have to format the hard drive i dont have alot of money at the moment so for the time being i was going to run linux i have never used linux before so i just wanted a bit of advice on the version that would work best on a laptop and i wanted to use linux to learn hacking and programing do you think this is a viable option? it has intel centrino 2.8ghz processor with 512mb of RAM but as the hard drive is tiny i have 2x 250GB external hard drives and it is wireless so any ideas on what version of linux and what i would need to do to get it working to its best potential? -Thanks for taking the time to read this -Hawk125

[pascal11110]

I would really recommend Ubuntu . It is completely free and has tons of great programs for it, and you can even get a lot of windows programs to run through Wine or other emulators. You can also use a virtual PC in Ubuntu to install XP, and XP runs faster in that than by itself! And, if you don't like the look or feel of Ubuntu, then you can try Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Edubuntu, etc. Which do the same things but have a different system look and layout. It will work really well on that computer, because I have Ubuntu running on a 500 mhz centrino processer with onboard video. It is also pretty much impossible to get viruses on Ubuntu. Hope this helps!

[Dr_Phil]

I'm pretty worthless on hardware, but, at least, I know my software!
So I'll give you some ideas on software, but don't blaim me if your hardware can't handle it, ok?

Ubuntu is a very easy dist, you don't have to choose many difficult settings when installing and I bet you'll never ever have to use anything than a good-looking GUI.
If you want more of a challange, you maybe want to check one of these dists:
http://www.debian.org <-- A dist just like many others, maybe a little more difficult.
http://www.gentoo.org <-- Has the potential to become anything you want it to be, a lot of "build-it-yourself", but you'll get a dist perfect for you!
http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/ <-- It is what it says, build it yourself.. ..from scratch! (NB: This is not an actual dist, much more like a handbook of how to build it yourself. )


Hacking and programming, ey?
http://damnvulnerablelinux.org/ is a website where you can download a dist wich teaches a lot about security, but make sure you don't make the mistake to install it! It's an LiveCD. (It seems they just got their website relaunched.. ..maybe not so much info 'bout it right now..)

There is lot of dists out there, I'm sure one of them will be just perfect for you!

[DenyTheTruth]

Not to be a fanboy or anything but I hear the newest version of Windows (7 Beta) is really easy on the hardware reqs. I've read several stories of people saying it loads faster and better than XP and Vista and since it's Windows it's obviously compatible with a great deal.

Downside is that it's brand-spanking new and only a Beta.