When a computer is very old there are three possibilities: put it in the cellar and leave it to dust, throw it away, install a Linux system on it and make it usable again. Among the countless Linux distributions there are some light ones that can be used to replace Windows, without the user having to suffer this change.
Peppermint OS is a Linux Ubuntu-based operating system that combines a desktop part with one made of cloud applications.
Peppermint takes its name from the most famous Linux Mint which can be considered as the easiest to use distribution, based on Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distro ever.
On Peppermint OS you can certainly install Ubuntu programs and, at the same time, have an extremely light interface that can be integrated via Cloud web applications, that is, usable on a PC connected to the internet.
Peppermint OS has reached version 4 and is a basic operating system, suitable for old PCs or for those who want a computer that is ultra fast.
I installed Peppermint OS 4 on an old EEEPC which, despite having only 4 GB of disk memory and 556 MB of RAM, now works wonderfully, without slowing down.
Installation is really simple; you just need to download the ISO image and then create a USB stick for installing the Linux system downloaded from the official website on a USB stick.
Then start the computer to be regenerated from the USB stick to install or test the system live.
Trying live means starting the Peppermint OS system without installing it.
Peppermint OS 4 is based on Ubuntu 13, uses the LXDE desktop and can access Ubuntu repositories.
In simple words it is a light system, with a desktop very similar to that of Windows XP on which almost all normal Linux programs can be installed .
What sets Peppermint OS apart from other distros, in addition to the minimalist and more Windows-like design, is the fact that the interface focuses on web or cloud-based applications .
This makes it particularly efficient on computers with limited space disks.
Web Apps include Google Drive for Office programs, Dropbox as a file repository, Spotify for listening to music, Gmail for receiving Email and then Chromium, the web browser identical to Google Chrome.
Then there is a feature called ICE that potentially allows you to import any website into the system by logging in with a login and password.
Peppermint OS X can be installed in Italian and provides a start menu similar to the Start of Windows XP, with all the programs to be launched via mouse.
You can browse the folders and you can open the computer administration tools, which can be used through the graphical interface.
You can view videos from your computer, access via Samba to files shared by another Windows computer on the same network, you can listen to music, you can play and you can also play streaming videos and movies from Youtube even if, on a low level computers like EEEPC, I needed the lighter Midori browser to open flash videos.
You can certainly install other programs such as LibreOffice and Firefox.
After several tests, the simple Linux Peppermint was the lightest and most complete operating system to use on my old laptop.
Peppermint is also one of the easiest to use Linux versions and among the lightest Linux operating systems ever.
