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In the last Windows Secrets post David Robinson writes: “Linux also runs happily on older hardware. If you have a working Windows XP computer that you want to update to something modern, chances are that a newer Windows version will run poorly — if at all. Linux will run just fine. Using older hardware also avoids one of the Linux limitations: possible lack of support for the latest cutting-edge hardware.” I have seen this claim in many Linux forums in som way. Unfortunately it seems very depending on wich brand of old hardware you are using. I am happily running Ubuntu 14.04 with dual boot Win7 64Bit Home Premium on my hpCompaq SG3-351SC (4MB RAM). On my Acer Aspire 5820TG TimelineX laptop (4MB RAM) I could run Ubuntu 13.04 with dual boot Win7 64Bit Home Premium but upgrading to Ubuntu 14.04 was not possible (the system became unbootable). I was forced to install Ubuntu 13.10 from USB image on the Linux partition. Ubuntu 13.10 is slower than 13.04 on the Acer laptop but works ok. Trying to install Mint on my old Dell Optiplex 170L with dual boot WinXP SP3 just did not work. Ubuntu 14.04 did install but was useless because of extremely laggy respons. Puppy Linux installed just fine and was quite responsive as well as Lubuntu 14.10 I am runnig now. But WinXP is much faster on that old Dell Optiplex 170L (2MB RAM). The claim that Linux makes your old hardware “sing” again must thus be taken with some grain of salt.

In the last Windows Secrets post David Robinson writes: “Linux also runs happily on older hardware. If you have a working Windows XP computer that you want to update to something modern, chances are that a newer Windows version will run poorly — if at all. Linux will run just fine. Using older hardware also avoids one of the Linux limitations: possible lack of support for the latest cutting-edge hardware.” I have seen this claim in many Linux forums in som way. Unfortunately it seems very depending on wich brand of old hardware you are using. I am happily running Ubuntu 14.04 with dual boot Win7 64Bit Home Premium on my hpCompaq SG3-351SC (4MB RAM). On my Acer Aspire 5820TG TimelineX laptop (4MB RAM) I could run Ubuntu 13.04 with dual boot Win7 64Bit Home Premium but upgrading to Ubuntu 14.04 was not possible (the system became unbootable). I was forced to install Ubuntu 13.10 from USB image on the Linux partition. Ubuntu 13.10 is slower than 13.04 on the Acer laptop but works ok. Trying to install Mint on my old Dell Optiplex 170L with dual boot WinXP SP3 just did not work. Ubuntu 14.04 did install but was useless because of extremely laggy respons. Puppy Linux installed just fine and was quite responsive as well as Lubuntu 14.10 I am runnig now. But WinXP is much faster on that old Dell Optiplex 170L (2MB RAM). The claim that Linux makes your old hardware “sing” again must thus be taken with some grain of salt.