Linux Lite
Aimed squarely at Windows users with an older computer.
- Feels like Windows
- Beginner friendly
- Ready for gaming
- Good on an old PC
Our verdict
Linux Lite 8.0 exists for one reader: someone with a five to ten year old Windows machine who wants it usable again. It uses the Xfce desktop, which draws a menu button, a taskbar and a tray in the places a Windows user reaches for, and it does not ask the graphics card for anything fancy.
The project's own help documents are installed on the system, written plainly for people who have never used Linux. That is rarer than it sounds and it is the main reason to choose this over a lighter but colder option.
Read the requirements before you commit. Linux Lite now asks for a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, 4 GB of memory, 40 GB of disk and a screen that can do 1366 by 768. If your machine has 2 GB of memory, Lubuntu or MX Linux will suit it better. Secure Boot must be off before installation.
Best for: Older laptops, First-time switchers, Second-hand office PCs.
What's good
- Written for Windows switchers, with its own help pages built into the system
- Xfce desktop is light and laid out much like a Windows taskbar and menu
- Ubuntu long term support underneath, so updates keep coming for years
- Small set of preinstalled tools, so there is less to learn
What to know first
- The published minimum has risen to 4 GB of memory and 40 GB of disk, so genuinely ancient machines are out
- Smaller project and smaller community than Mint or Ubuntu
- Not a gaming system
- Secure Boot has to be switched off before installing
The details
- Memory (RAM) needed
- 4 GB minimum, 8 GB comfortable
- Disk space needed
- 40 GB
- Desktop look
- Xfce
- Updates
- A new version every so often, stable in between
- Supported for
- 5 years per version
- Built on
- Ubuntu LTS
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