Linux Mint 18 XFCE on T42
Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 5:15 am
Just for fun, I decided to load Linux Mint 18 XFCE 32 bit on my old (Feb 2005) T42. It runs great without any issue. It's not as snappy as a dual core T60 but overall I'm very happy. Machine spec: Pentium 2.0 GHz single core, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB SSD in ultrabay as boot and programs drive, 120 GB IDE HDD in main drive mounted as /home.
Previously I've loaded Win 7, Linux Mint Debain, and Zorin Lite on this machine. By far this latest XFCE distro is the best. Looks great, tolerable speed, easily customizable, easy and intuitive to use. The interface is very similar to Win 7 but uses only 6 GB of disk space where as my Win 7 install uses nearly the entire 32 GB SSD. Multimedia codecs was easily installed with a couple of clicks. Everything is pretty much set up and I haven't needed to open a terminal screen yet.
Even though this CPU is officially non-PAE, I followed this excellent force PAE install guide. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PAE
Previously I've loaded Win 7, Linux Mint Debain, and Zorin Lite on this machine. By far this latest XFCE distro is the best. Looks great, tolerable speed, easily customizable, easy and intuitive to use. The interface is very similar to Win 7 but uses only 6 GB of disk space where as my Win 7 install uses nearly the entire 32 GB SSD. Multimedia codecs was easily installed with a couple of clicks. Everything is pretty much set up and I haven't needed to open a terminal screen yet.
Even though this CPU is officially non-PAE, I followed this excellent force PAE install guide. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PAE