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Windows 7 Stopped Support on 14th Jan 2020. Dont upgrade to windows 10 if you have older hardware. So what you can do

Microsoft had stopped supporting Windows 7 from 14th Jan 2020 .  What does that means for you.

This means that Microsoft will no longer give you patches/updates for windows 7.  Windows 7 is officially END OF LIFE .  

So what are you options now ?

1.  Either you can update to Windows 10 , which will require you to pay for license cost for the operating system and for all the softwares  that you will install on it 

OR 

2.  You can download and install Linux operating system (which is free to use )

The first option  (upgrading windows 7 with windows 10) will not work good for people who have older hardware i.e. 1GB or 2GB memory with limited amount of harddisk space).

In this post i will give you list of  Linux operating systems which you can download along with their system requirement.  Most of Linux Variant are only available on 64bit architecture  (Right click on my computer in windows 7, click on properties and see what architecture you have ).  However there are few variant which still support 32bit architecture.   Based  on the architecture you can select the linux variant to install.

1. Lubuntu (available for 32bit and 64bit both )

Lubuntu Linux best distro

Minimum System Requirements
  • Pentium II or Celeron CPU with Physical Address Execution (PAE)
  • 128 MB of Ram
  • 2 GB of hard drive
As the name suggests, Lubuntu is  member of the popular Ubuntu family. It runs on LXDE desktop environment and as such it one of the official flavors of Ubuntu. Lubuntu works well with old computers, and its lightness is visible in its speed and support for older hardware.
It has a set of applications and software with tools like office, internet, graphics applications, and related utilities. The applications running within Lubuntu utilize fewer resources, and they have better alternatives if need be.
You can access thousands of additional packages via the Ubuntu software repository. 
2. Linux Lite (Only 64bit)

lightweight Linux distro lightweight Linux distro

Minimum System Requirements
  • 700 MHz Processor speed
  • 512 MB of RAM
  • Resolution of 1024 X 768
  • 5 GB of hard disk space
From its name “lite,” it means there is no need for high-end hardware requirements. Even a beginner will find a lot of comforts using it for the first time. Linux Lite runs on Ubuntu Long Term Support (LTS) with a support life of up five years.
The Operating System is functional with no need to install extra software the moment you finish your installation.
Some preinstalled applications like Firefox for web browsing, emails use Thunderbird, Dropbox for cloud services, LibreOffice, VLC media player, GIMP for image editing and Lite tweaks to adjust your desktop settings.
There will be no 32bit ISO from Series 4.x onwards. If you still need to run a 32bit operating system, our Series 3.x is supported until April, 2021. Download it from here.

3. Tiny Core (Only 32bit)

Tiny core lightweight Linux distro

Minimum System Requirements
  • 46 MB RAM with 64 MB as the recommended size
  • Pentium II processor
Known as one of the lightest Linux distros, TinyCore has a very small memory footprint of only 16 Mb !. It was developed from the small project into something that can run independently. The distro is minimalistic with very few installed software.
The distro uses the FLTK /FKWM and busy box desktops by default. Some components for hardware graphics may be missing, but you can install them manually. Tiny Core is available in three different editions, i.e. CorePlus, Tiny Core, and Core.
The core is the base system that uses the Command Line Interface (CLI). For advanced users, this distro can work well as long as they do not need the graphical interface, which is available in TinyCore edition.
CorePlus is an image that will work well for users with a wireless network. The installation tools provide for the basic setup of which windows manager to use, wireless support through different firmware files, keyboard support, and a remastering tool
The size may amaze you, but its capability is that of a big Operating System especially when installed on old PCs and laptops.

4. AntiX Linux (available for 32bit and 64bit both)

AntiX lightweight Linux distro

Minimum System Requirements
  • 256 MB of RAM
  • Pentium III processor
  • 7 GB of hard disk space
antiX is a distribution based on Debian Linux boasting of a systemd-free Linux distribution.  The window manager that comes with this OS is the icewm that keeps the system on low resource demands.
There is no bundled software, but you can always download and install if you have access to the internet.

5. Peppermint (available for 32bit and 64bit both)

Peppermint distro

Minimum System Requirements
  • 1 GB of RAM with a recommended option of 2 GB
  • Intel x86-processor architecture
  • At least 4 GB of free hard disk space
The orig9nal creation of Peppermint was intended to make it look like a web-centered approach with netbooks in mind. It is a cloud-based Linux distribution with minimal hardware requirements.
The desktop environment is also Ubuntu based and uses the LXDE to give its users a smoother experience. Peppermint uses an ICE application that integrates websites into a desktop app.
It has a perfect user guide that new users may find resourceful with a forum for troubleshooting issues.

6. LXLE (available for 32bit and 64bit both)

Minimum System Requirements
  • 512 RAM with a recommendation of 1 GB
  • Pentium III with a recommendation of Pentium IV
  • 8 GB hard disk space
LXLE is more or less another version of Lubuntu LTS, which to some people it is a Lubuntu tweak used for a specific purpose in old PCs and laptops. It is light in weight and has the best and intuitive user interface.
Tweaks done on this distro is to improve performance and avails a wide range of lightweight applications installed by default.

7. Bodhi Linux (Only 64bit)

Bodhi Linux

Minimum System Requirements
  • 256 MB of RAM
  • 4 GB of hard disk space
  • GHz Processor
Bodhi Linux will give life to your old PCs and laptops due to its lightness. It has no extra software making the image size small and runs freely utilizing less memory. The good thing is that you can do custom installations of the software you need.
The package enlightenment makes this distro run faster than other window managers used in other Linux distros. You do not have to worry about using enlightenment or any other package because Bodhi Linux has user guides useful in such situations.
Some essential Apps such as Midori for the web, Ephoto for graphics, and ePad for editing text are available. Applications for multimedia are not available during installation but are available through the App Center.

8. CrunchBang ++(available for 32bit and 64bit both)

crunchbang Linux
Minimum System Requirements
  • 512 MB of RAM
  • Pentium IV processor
Another name for the CrunchBang is the CBPP or #! ++ Or CrunchBang Plus Plus. The distro is the cloning of Linux distribution CrunchBang Linux known for its simplicity and lightweight. CrunchBang ++ is designed to work with old machines without any bottlenecks.
The distro is based on Debian 9 with a minimal interface design that uses the open box window manager. The overall design is to offer an easy to use interface with good functionalities. This simplicity explains it as a minimalistic, simplified, and sleek interface.
Some default Apps in CrunchBang ++ are Terminal emulator, Geany IDE, Gimp for image editing, Thunar file manager, VLC media player, XFburn burning software, Viewnior image viewer, Iceweasel for the web, gFTP transfer client, AbiWord for office applications, etc.

9. SparkyLinux ((available for 32bit and 64bit both)

sparkly

Minimum System Requirements
  • 256 MB of RAM if you are using LXDE, Openbox, Gameover, and e17. 384 MB of RAM for MATE and LXQt
  • I486 or amd64 processor
  • 5 GB of hard disk space
SparkyLInux is another lightweight distribution that works in both old and modern computers. The distro runs immediately after installation. It based on the testing branch of Debian with several desktop environments.
The distro has two editions: the full and base editions. The full edition has applications that do not need manual installation. The base edition does not have heavy applications meaning it is light and does not eat much of computer resources.
The good thing is that all its applications can be installed from within its repositories. Each edition of SparkyLInux has different default applications. Therefore, you need to choose your flavor carefully.

10. Puppy Linux (available for 32bit and 64bit both)

puppy linux

Minimum System Requirements
  • 64 MB of RAM and a recommendation of 256 MB
  • 333 MHz processor speed
Puppy Linux is regarded as one of the best lightweight Linux distros that you can find out there because of its small memory footprint, ease of use, customizability and flexibility.  It can easily run on an old PC or laptop and  has many Apps that come bundled in the installation disk. The distro can run from a small size USB stick where it can also run a live system.
Everything it does is saved on RAM making the system very fast, and if you are running a live system from the USB, you can save some data on it. Puppy Linux uses Openbox and JWM window managers as default window managers; the two do not consume most of the system resources.
You use Puppy Linux it is best not to demand much from its graphical applications, it will be best if you use what the system provides for better results. The distro is built for fast performance it does not have bundled application apart from the basic ones like AbiWord for word-processing, selected graphics editing tools, media playback programs and Gnumeric for spreadsheets.

11. Trisquel Mini(available for 32bit and 64bit both)

Trisquel mini

Minimum System Requirements
  • Uses the minimal graphical user interface requirements
  • 256 MB of RAM
  • Any Pentium processor
Trisquel Mini is a small, and lightweight version of a Trisquel based Ubuntu LTS. The software is made for old machines and laptops that consume little power and with low specifications.
It Uses the minimal LXDE desktop environment and X windows system, which is a perfect alternative to the GNOME or KDE/ Qt Apps. You can use the Synaptic Package Manager to install your software.
The installation media can run as a Live CD medium. The graphical presentation is more or less the same as the Ubuntu one.

12. MX Linux((available for 32bit and 64bit both)

MX-Linux
Minimum System Requirements
  • A CD/DVD drive (and BIOS capable of booting from that drive), or a live USB (and
    BIOS capable of booting from USB)
  • A modern i686 Intel or AMD processor
  • 512 MB of RAM memory
  • 5 GB free hard drive space
  • For use as a LiveUSB, 4 GB free
MX Linux is a stable and popular Linux distribution based on Debian whose current version is 18.3 at the time of penning down this article. By default, it ships with an XFCE desktop with lots of features and customizations. The UI is quite basic and simple. This simplicity echoes the MXLinux philosophy and beginners should easily get started and Professional users can make customizations that can suit them. MX Linux is renowned for its high performance while at the same time keeping it simple on the UI. It comes with several built-in apps that let you do everything from managing your repositories to tweaking your desktop and so much more.

How to make a bootable USB


Download the program Rufus from https://rufus.akeo.ie/

[rufus screenshot]

In Rufus
  1. Insert your USB drive and select it in the "Device" list
  2. Select "ISO Image" next to "Create a bootable disk using..."
  3. Click the disk icon to choose the ISO that you downloaded previously.
  4. Then click on start.  
this will create your Bootable USB.  Once created , insert it in the computer , choose your boot media and start the installation .


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