[COLUG] Seeking recommendations for Linux distro for ancient laptop

[Thomas W. Cranston]

Ethan Dicks wrote:
> Hi, all,
>
> I have this ancient Dell laptop that has suddenly become my primary
> Linux box.  It's had an install of RedHat 9 on it since 2003, but
> since it is maxed out at 256MB of RAM, is a bit sluggish when browsing
> with Firefox, opening OpenOffice files, etc.
>
> I would love to upgrade to a newer laptop, but that's not practical
> for 4-6 months.  I have to make do with what I have in front of me.
> Does anyone have any recommendations for lightweight distros that are
> sophisticated enough to run a graphical web browser and OOffice?  Disk
> space is not a limiting factor here, neither is raw CPU speed... it's
> only physical memory limitations that's really giving me fits here.
>
> Thanks,
>
> -ethan
> _______________________________________________
> colug432 mailing list colug432 at colug.net
> http://www.colug.net/mailman/listinfo/colug432
>
What kind of Dell is it? What kind of memory does it use? I have several 
old Dell's, form a 486 machine, a GX1 220mmx w/256 MB RAM (slow 
w/browser), and several GX110, 600MHz P111, 256 MB RAM. The GX110 runs 
Firefox quite well.

Be careful about new laptops(& PC's), especially ones preloaded w/Vista. 
I am hearing rumors that MS has convinced manufacturers to use chipsets 
that will only work w/Vista. Would appreciate confirmation of said rumor.