This lightweight Linux distribution is the best way to revive your old computer. Here’s how

ZDNET’s key findings

• Linux Lite 7.0 can be downloaded and installed for free from the official site.
• This lightweight Linux distribution has everything you need and offers top-notch performance.
• The default desktop is a bit boring, but it’s relatively easy to customize.

My friend recently wanted to breathe new life into an old laptop. Her old Intel MacBook was no longer supported by Apple and rather than let the device end up in a landfill somewhere, she decided to install Linux, an operating system she had never used before.

She began her search with Linux Mint, which is always a good place to start. Unfortunately, the installation failed for her (mainly due to the stubbornly slow nature of the machine), so she turned to another vendor.

Also: Thinking about switching to Linux? 10 things you need to know

Given their hardware, there was only one logical suggestion: Linux Lite. Installation went smoothly, except that the keyboard layout was automatically selected incorrectly. Thankfully, that was easily fixed.

After this experience, I realized that I hadn’t tried Linux Lite in a long time and it was time to change that. So I downloaded the ISO file, started a virtual machine, and logged into the desktop in less than five minutes.

Also: 5 important Linux terms every new user needs to know

Whenever I try a lightweight Linux distribution, I know what to expect. They are usually quite generic and lack visual appeal and elegance. They do their job and not much more.

That’s why Linux Lite struck me as unique in this “genre.” No, it doesn’t offer a ton of effects or beautification. It’s a very basic (albeit customized) version of the Xfce desktop, which means you can always customize it further to suit your needs. It took me all of two minutes to configure the desktop the way I prefer the interface (with a dock-like panel, no desktop icons, and a lighter theme).

I could even configure the Whisker menu (desktop menu) to better suit my preferences.

As is typical for a lightweight Linux distribution, Linux Lite’s performance was about as good as any other desktop operating system I’ve ever tried. It was fast. I gave the virtual machine I used 3GB of RAM and two CPU cores, and this distribution was as powerful as if it had four times the power. Anyone whose machine doesn’t have the resources to run the latest version of Windows will be very well served by this distribution, especially if speed is your thing.

Linux Lite comes standard with Chrome, LibreOffice (including Base for creating databases), GIMP, Photo Manager, Deja Dup Backups, VLC Media Player, a USB image recorder, an on-screen keyboard, Timeshift (for restore points), and more. In other words, Linux Lite is not exactly light on applications. You can install this distribution and get on with your work without installing much else. Should you need to install anything else, there is the Synaptic Package Manager.

The only thing I was missing in Linux Lite was a universal package manager like Snap or Flatpak. No problem. In Synaptic I was able to quickly search for and install both.

The heart of a lightweight Linux distribution is, of course, performance, and Linux Lite exceeded my expectations. Applications opened instantly; in fact, I’ve never experienced Chrome opening so quickly.

Also: I’ve been using Linux for 30 years. Here are 5 reasons why I’ll never switch to Windows or MacOS

If my friend, who has never used Linux in her life, was able to install Linux Lite and get it running without any problems, you probably can too. As I tell everyone, if you can install a Windows app, you can install modern Linux. It really is that simple, and Linux Lite proves that hypothesis.

This lightweight Linux distribution is ideal for anyone new to this open source operating system or looking to bring an old machine back to life.