Linux distro for old laptop
Linux distro for old laptop
I chose Manjaro as my first option. Locate a USB-M.2 case and an outdated SATA M.2 stick as my "USB" drive. I'll try it out after enjoying a coffee and catching up on other tasks. Almost gave up on Manjaro before diving in. Their site created an ad that was more bothersome than necessary—it pops up briefly, lingers, then vanishes each time you switch pages. By default, my adblocker didn’t catch it, and since it disappeared quickly, I couldn’t manually block it. I had to check the access log to identify the source URL and set up a block. The actual content wasn’t terrible; if it were a simple banner ad, I’d have ignored it.
My experience with Manjaro Gnome hasn't been ideal yet. Before even launching, the suggested USB writer for Windows didn’t work properly. Only a reliable write from memtest86 succeeded. I’m not sure if it ran during boot or the installer, but I chose open-source drivers instead of proprietary ones. I believe my hardware, particularly the GPU, is old enough to still receive support. I didn’t bother tweaking the USB setup, so I went ahead and installed it directly. The only exceptions were setting British English and enabling file swapping, since I wasn’t certain how much 8GB RAM would help. Since it’s an SSD, I doubt a traditional partition is necessary anymore, right? It warned me about missing internet at that time, but I’ll address that later. After booting, I adjusted the settings and added Wi-Fi, then proceeded with the update. Restarting brought a red dot labeled “1” in the software tool. Opening it didn’t show any actionable steps. I’m determined to remove those persistent red dot alerts. I’m testing some alternatives—Firefox worked fine, but the interface felt clunky. I tried mimicking the Windows start menu, but it didn’t respond. After searching, I discovered a fix that resolved the issue. This situation is making me question whether I really need to reinstall Manjaro. It’s worth noting that disabling mouse acceleration improved the initial feel. If I ever decide to uninstall, I can switch to another distro with Gnome support. I’ll experiment a bit more and see how it goes.
The partition offers better performance, while the file provides more adaptability. You can adjust its size and position as required. It seems most distributions now suggest this setup, as the desktop speed boost is minimal. Excluding dash-to-dock being a native extension, there shouldn’t be anything unique to Manjaro about it—it appears to be a known issue. I encountered this before updating to Gnome 45.1; updates can sometimes cause problems initially, so waiting until the first official release is usually wise. Currently, I’m still unable to use my Wacom because the mouse cursor tends to stick, but a fix is expected (https://forum.manjaro.org/t/wacom-tablet...top/151983).