ubuntu Mobile?

[coolVariable]

I have two old laptops that I am thinking about converting to simple linux boxes.
I really like the Asus eee PC idea of running everything as web apps.
The machines would only be used for:
- surfing
- email
- contacts
- occasional letter writing/printing (epson stylus dx5050)

Of course I could run Win98se/ME or something like that but I would love for the GUI to be a little "nicer looking" while at the same time being maybe faster than Windows? (I don't think the above three tasks are very intensive.)

xubuntu and gOS have caught my eye but I am afraid that they are too advanced and thus too slow too.
Which one of the two would be better?

What would you do?

Recently saw ubuntu Mobile and love the GUI.
But based on my googling it is only available for Atom (and some other MID only CPU)?
Any ideas how to get his on an old PIII w. 750Mhz/512 MB RAM?

 

[nsafreak]

Well it'd help if we knew what the specs of your laptops are. Linux's GUIs do take less generally than Windows although if you load up GNOME or KDE with a lot of eye candy then it may stress your machine. If the laptops are on the really low end of the spectrum your best bet would be to install xubuntu with the XFCE desktop enviroment. Very minimal install and unless you're running something absolutely ancient you should be fine.

 

[coolVariable]

Sorry totally forgot to post specs:

Laptop 1
Celeron 400Mhz
128MB RAM

Laptop 2
Pentium M 600MHz
256MB RAM
ATI 3D Rage LT Pro
6GB HDD

 

[coolVariable]

I really like the tabbed GUI of the Asus eee PC.
That would be ideal for setting these laptops up as "family computers" that can even be used by the "older folks".
Would be best if they cannot make any local changes to the machine ...

;-)

 

[imported_Jubei]

I was also thinking of installing some form of linux on my old Fujitsu laptop (PIII-M, 1.2GHz), which runs darn slow with Win XP - start up takes forever.

 

[htne]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
Sorry totally forgot to post specs:

Laptop 1
Celeron 400Mhz
128MB RAM

Laptop 2
Pentium M 600MHz
256MB RAM
ATI 3D Rage LT Pro
6GB HDD

The second laptop will run XP quite nicely. I have an old laptop with a P3 700 mhz, 256 megs (maxed out), and it runs a clean install of XP very nicely. Use a light anti-virus (Nod32 comes to mind), and Firefox 3 or K-Meleon for the web browser, and you will be happy.

For the first laptop, Puppy Linux or Damn Small Linux come to mind.

 

[Fox5]

Fluxbuntu maybe (any other ubuntu distro is def too heavy for these machines).
gOS might work. It is after all what you want to emulate, right?
Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux would work well.

 

[Noema]

I've run Damn Small Linux on a PIII at 700MHz with 64MB of RAM and it was quite zippy; much more than Win98 anyway.

Xubuntu is much more demanding, though. I installed it on an old P4 @1.2GHz with 128MHz and, while usable, performance left a lot to be desired, specially since even the most meager tasks would demand to much of the processor and would grind the machine to a crawl.

 

[coolVariable]

Mmmmh. I am really surprised that the nicer looking linux variants are all so slow.
I would love to put some really small but good looking linux on this that starts fast and pretty much only offers web access (most of what I want is online gOS stuff).
I am literally looking for something like a "browser as OS" type of thing that starts in 10 seconds.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: coolVariable
Mmmmh. I am really surprised that the nicer looking linux variants are all so slow.
I would love to put some really small but good looking linux on this that starts fast and pretty much only offers web access (most of what I want is online gOS stuff).
I am literally looking for something like a "browser as OS" type of thing that starts in 10 seconds.

Just make firefox load up by default and get rid of the close button
Once the browser is loaded, that's all you see anyway.

BTW, Damn Small Linux and Puppy Linux don't look that bad. Fluxbuntu doesn't seem too bad either.

 

[coolVariable]

I just read about Asus putting some "instant on" linux into the Bios of their mobos.
something like THAT would be ideal for old PCs.

An instant on linux that only loads a browser and the drivers to connect to the internet.

 

[coolVariable]

?

 

[coolVariable]

Recently saw ubuntu Mobile and love the GUI.
But based on my googling it is only available for Atom (and some other MID only CPU)?
Any ideas how to get his on an old PIII w. 750Mhz/512 MB RAM?