Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Side note: Gnome is not as heavy as it once was. Running on a Chromebook with 2GB or RAM and haven't had any issues.
As a complete Linux noob coming from Windows, I'd say Mint is the way to go. If you're worried about Cinnamon being too heavy, Mate is much lighter and a lot of fun. I'm especially fond of their file browser Caja.
Your second choice, Fedora, is my go to system, and I'll cheerfully sing it's praises. If you want to go that way, check out the KDE, Cinnamon, XFCE, or LXDE spins, but I will say it's a bit less beginner friendly. Make sure you enable the non-free repositories when you log in for the first time!
Mint has an XFCE version as well, last I checked. So if Mate is too much then XFCE is there on Mint as well.
That's exactly the kind of hardware that'd get a big a boost in performance by switching to Linux. Go for it! I have so many old machines that have essentially gained a second life when I installed Linux on them. You can't go wrong with either an Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora-based distro. I am not sure what 2Ghz requirement you're talking about, but I've run Fedora on potato class hardware so I think it will be fine.
If you start getting used to Linux after a while, I'd actually suggest Arch because of how slim of a system you can achieve with it and how fast in general it usually is. Of course, if this is your first time using Linux definitely try out some of the friendlier distros first!
Well, uhh, these requirements. But idk.
Yeah I've heard Arch is lightweight, but that might happen in like 5 years :D
To be honest, I think those are more guidelines than anything else. Most distros are largely the same in terms of overall performance. Perhaps some might have a bigger memory footprint due to more applications installed out of the box, but that's about it.
XFCE is a great option. I consider it middle ground as low resource needs, but also has most of the features you want in a DE. Things like IceWM or OpenBox are even lighter, but less featureful
You're having way too many thoughts about this. I'll give you a simple choice: It's either Xubuntu or Linux Mint.
Simply choose by which one looks better to you. Done.
In a year you can look back at your post and decide again if there is anything you want to change or you're in dire need of a Linux hobby and Gentoo is all you've ever been looking for.
Linux Mint okay, but Xubuntu?
Isn't the design gonna throw off any new users?
Just try few of these from live usb and pick what you like.
You can use Ventoy and just drag all your ISO images to it but creating few USBs is easiest option for beginners.
There is nothing bad about Debian/Debian based distros and I think that it is great option I started on Mint, tryed Manjaro and get back to Mint.
Mint it is, rock-solid for beginners
Some other people said you’re thinking too hard. They’re right.
Back up all your shit, install Debian. Try out kde and see if it’s too much. If it is, install cinnamon or something.
Prepare for the Nvidia card to be a pain in the ass, if so, maybe running the official driver on a LTS version of Ubuntu is the best option here.
Mint/Cinnamon is easy and a good transitional experience. Whatever you choose, don't forget to donate whatever you can afford and think is appropriate. That helps keep these things available. GL
Go with Pop!_OS you will love it :)
Debian 12 with KDE and call it a day.
I'd personally recommend Linux Mint with XFCE or Cinnamon. XFCE with the Suse style is light and has a built-in search on the start menu, which I consider a must-have.
Mint in general should offer the least amount of resistance for getting everything up and running, including the graphic driver.
I strongly recommend XFCE if you can't upgrade. It's the snappiest of the easy DEs, and on a 10yo laptop, I suspect you'll notice. LXQT is half a tier more difficult, depending on how much you want to tweak the work flow.
If for some reason XFCE is still too heavy and slow, you can go lighter than LXQT without giving yourself a headache, but the only true beginner openbox distro I know of is Mabox, and you seem to prefer point release distros.
Edit: You know what though? Try KDE first; if it's fast enough for you, great!
Why is it that in such posts I don't see PopOS mentioned anywhere? I've been using it on my 8 year old laptop and it works really well! It had Win 10 on it previously and would crash if I opened more than 2 tabs on Firefox.
I might look into getting a refurbished ThinkPad or something before buying new hardware for this laptop, you'll probably get a lot more performance out of this than upgrading that old laptop
Lets fucking go. Definitely try the three OG desktops Gnome, KDE and Xfce. The first two are the biggest ones with tons of features and a big development team. Also KDE has a memory print thats as low as Xfce which is the lightest.
Debian Stable (or testing) with the MATE desktop... I mean, if you wanna use AND learn a little bit of Linux!!! Debian is aways your friend, and it is super rock-solid! Avoid distros with poor documentation, and avoid Ubuntu at all costs... Ubuntu has weird bugs, just like Windows. If you don't like Debian, I'd say: pick OpenSUSE or ArchLinux...
Kubuntu if you want KDE. Your hardware should run it fine. Mint XFCE or Xubuntu if you want to optimize for speed.
Just adding on that if you do go Kubuntu, OP, get the LTS 22.04 version. Since you've got older hardware there's really not much point in using newer kernels. Ubuntu LTS (and therefore Mint, since it's based on it) is just rock solid in the "just works" category as long as your hardware isn't super new.
Linux Mint with XFCE is what I'd go with
With regards to performance, the distro matters but the Desktop Environment matters more.
For older hardware, XFCE is going to perform a bit better than GNOME. KDE is a middle-ground. Choose what DE you want first and then go for a distro that runs that well.