I'm running Win7 (love it), not Win10 (detest it) so -- I need to plan ahead: Linux or MAC. I just bought a MAC computer and I have an old laptop, in great shape, that I plan to dedicate to Linux. Specs: HP ProBook 6460B, Intel i5 @ 2.5GHz, 64 bit, 8G Ram, 320G HD Request comments as to whether Linux will run on that HP laptop so-so, or good, or great, or ?
Yes, absolutely! You would have no problem running Linux on a machine with those specs.* You can always download a few ISOs of your chosen distro and create boot media. Best to use a UFD, but a disk will work. Then you can check it out without installing. or making any changes to the machine until you're ready. * Comment from very basic user of Linux.
bellgamin, Linux runs fine on my 10 year old netbook with an Atom processor, 100 GB SSD and 2 GB RAM. Win10 is almost unusable on this netbook.
@Krusty & @Brian K -- Great!!! Thanks for the help. My HP looks forward to its "re-birth". I have never worked with an ISO file & I have never burned/created a DVD. Ergo, I buy distros on flash drives from Ebay for about $15 each. They enable me to try a distro out without installing it, and then walk me through the install process if I decide to keep it. So.... I guess it's time that I learned how to use an ISO. I shall google for a wiki.
I suggest YUMI. "YUMI (Your Universal Multiboot Installer) is a tool used to create Bootable USB drives. Quickly create a Multiboot USB Flash Drive containing multiple Bootable ISO files." https://www.pendrivelinux.com Easy tutorials.
It has more than enough cpu computational power and RAM to run Gnu/Linux distros, but when it comes to drivers you never know until you tries it or somebody else tries with exact same hardware configuration. You must try to be sure.
YUMI and Universal USB installer. I used YUMI on XP, but had trouble with it on Window7. So for the last Linux installer I used is Universal. Both are mentioned here: https://www.pendrivelinux.com/ Recently I DBANed somebody's old HP laptop. 1GB RAM. I had to use a DVD or CD 'cause it would not boot from a flash stick. Anyway, Linux Mint 18.3 works fine on it. Installation of version 19 failed.
You likely can't go wrong with #1 On the Distrowatch list MX Linux. EDIT: Given your hardware, I'd recommend the XFCE desktop. XFCE in my experience has always given me a near-perfect balance between some eye-appealing aesthetics and performance.
IMO KDE5 is now the better option since with that you can ‘have it all’ for less resources than you will use with something else except for the genuine lightweight DE’s like Openbox. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasone...-the-lightweight-linux-desktop-crown-in-2020/ That said performance comparisons are always a bit of a lottery depending on the system hardware and whether the particular distro installed has been designed to be performance tweaked. My recommendation for Xfce would be Simply Linux 9 https://en.altlinux.org/Simply_Linux_9
Xubuntu 20.04 ran smoothly from a USB 2.0 drive on my 2016-era i3 laptop, which has only 4 GB of RAM, during the time the hard drive was non-functional. Everything, including the WiFi, worked perfectly. I used the free Rufus software to make the USB drive.
Spec wise, yes, but you may have problems with hardware compatibility. Most of the laptops I owned that were originally Windows-only had some problems with Linux support - Wireless drivers, graphics drivers, keyboard backlight and Fn buttons, fan control, etc. So it will run Linux but you may not have 100% hardware compatibility you expect. What are your graphics card and wifi/bluetooth model? Mrk
I had an 11 year old Asus laptop which just finally died a few days ago, but I ran all manner of Linux on it successfully and it ran fine. MX Linux is a good light choice as mentioned above. I also liked Kubuntu and especially Debian. Mint ran fine also, as well as Ubuntu and Manjaro. So you shouldn't have any problems there....
Speccy (Windows) or Gnu/Linux Code: lspci -nn but probably there is also some GUI program for Gnu/Linux to check it.
I just tried Mint Cinnamon, and then KDE Nitro. Boy, setting up a connection is a very convoluted process. With Windows, that Operating System (OS) searched and found all the nearby wi-fi connections, and one of them was my own. So I entered the user name & password and POOF! I got connected. On the other hand, Linux offers zero assistance. All it does is present a form with several boxes to be filled in, each with an acronym for a title, and zero guidance. So I can't get on the internet with Linux as yet. I had no idea that Linux was still so slanted toward techies. I never bought or studied any instructions about how to use Windows. I just messed around a few days and got it working. I fiddled with my son-in-law's MAC for a couple of hours one afternoon and could readily see that it would be equally easy to learn-by-doing. I fully enjoy a hands-on learning process. From what I have seen so far, Linux is not cooperative with that approach. Therefore I have ordered a Linux for Dummies book. I'll try Linux again after the book comes & I have studied a bit. The prospect of having actually to study Linux has caused me to consider buying a MAC as my "second OS". However, I won't easily give up on Linux, mainly because there are so many friendly, helpful, interesting folks inhabiting this forum.
That's NOT my experience with modern Linux Distros. 99% let me know connections are available. I choose mine enter pw & I'm good. I haven't seen anything like what you're talking about for over 10 years.
We still don't know whether your wifi card is supported by Linux kernel. Of all essential extension cards and chips on motherboard (audio, graphics, ethernet, wifi) lowest level of support is among WIFI cards. Mine WIFI card worked well (Atheros chip) and changed it for slightly faster supported Intel card, so some work quite well, but others do not at all. Anyway when computer has supported Wifi card then it is usually easy to connect to Wifi network - just click on some icon on the desktop related to networking/wireless connectivity and you are two clicks (and some key presses for password) away from Internect connection. Edit: There were some rare instances for some people where Windows driver hard-blocked Wifi card, so the only way for them to enable it was to boot Windows with right driver installed and enable it (turn on) Wifi card then restart to Linux.
I tried these 2 distros (Mint & KDE Neon) on my "main" laptop (a Dell) instead of the HP that I plan to dedicate to Linux. Yes, its wifi switch is turned on. I'll try these same 2 distros on the HP later today & report back. I will also have 2 more distros (Zorin & MX Linux) by tomorrow. If I can get Linux to connect out on one of them, it will look a LOT more interesting that it does right now. Thanks for staying with me! P.S. I got curious about how to find graphics card info so I did a bit of messing around. Best way I found on Win7: Win key+R > dxdiag > Display tab. On Win 10: Win key + Esc > Performance tab > GPU 0
Bellgamin, you may have to install latest updates and drivers to get your wifi to work. How that's done, depends of course on the distro you run.
