I want to replace Windows with Linux on a very old Notebook. It‘s for my father who uses it only for web browsing and Skype.
Can you recommend me a distro?
I think Ubuntu should be fine but I don‘t know.

I recommend Mint Cinnamon. Not only is it a very classic desktop with no weird crap, it's also both robust and user friendly with its Mint tools. It's the better Ubuntu. I've put a number of non-IT end users on Mint, and they're happy with it.

@Fast-Nop I can confirm this.

Just recently installed it on an old venue pro I had laying around as a war driving machine and it runs smoother and better than any distro I had on it previously.

It *almost* made me want to use it on my daily driver. That's high praise coming from me since I absolutely HATE Ubuntu with a passion.

Cinnamon mint reminds me of how Ubuntu was back in the early 2000s, probably why I like it more.

@sariel Yeah, it's quite snappy on old machines. You'll probably want to switch off any effects in Cinnamon, "noatime" on all file systems, removing "locate" from the systeml, disabling unnecessary autostart stuff like the system reports and obviously the welcome screen. For the browser, uBlock Origin with appropriate filter list abos is a must.

Ubuntu should be fine, but it has some weird issues, like with function keys (stuff like pause/play, skip song actions don't work too well). There was a version that was also doing thrashing, but it stopped when i updated.

I agree with @Fast-Nop , mint is nice, we use it at college

get ready for a lot of "how do I do this?" or "the neighbor kid says my computer is all wrong" and other its-not-windows questions.
But I dig the plan. We need as many people using foss as possible.

@catgirldev Skype is not an issue - I had one user on a Core2Duo desktop using Skype under Mint.

That was part of the evaluation before the actual Linux migration because that machine was already decommissioned and lying around in the basement so that it was available for free.

@JsonBoa Such users don't have these questions because they don't understand Windows, either - so not understanding Linux isn't really an issue as long as it's usable. Sure, the GUI looks slightly different, but so does every Windows GUI.

@CeladonCookie came here to say this

If you will become the administrator, just give him whatever you like to maintain. Else give him a mainstream distro which uses the desired desktop environment as default (so it is likely to keep being well-maintained).

Run a few from a usb stick and decide which you think will be best

Nothing is slower than an old laptop, especially if it has an Intel Atom. Here's probably the complete list of distros that will work fine, anything else will be sluggish IMO.

Here it is: https://distrowatch.com/search.php/...

(I have 640 mhz EEE PC 701, I also have Intel Atom Samsung netbook)

btw nice to see you again!

what @Fast-Nop said.

I also stand for LMint

@Fast-Nop Mint vs. elementaryos? I’m interested in your opinion, pls forget that I love elementary

Linux Mint

mint.

mint is the distro that ubuntu once aimed to be - simple, no bullshit, just works.

Mint is pretty good, you might also consider Manjaro which is the epitome of stability if it happens to like your hardware.

@rEaL-jAsE Unless the laptop is relatively recent or bizarrely overpowered for its age, Windows would be useless as its baseline resource usage at any given time is 40% of a brand new consumer grade laptop and it doesn't scale with available resources at all.

@rEaL-jAsE there are many linux distros that have good enough gui tools that you don‘t need the command line.

Besides that, he only needs a web browser and Skype.

The current Windows 10 installation has become slow as fuck and the frequent Windows updates are becoming annoying.
I want to try Linux and see if it gets better.

@kiki Mint, hands down. Wikipedia claims Elementary moved to Debian, which could be a benefit, but the current ISO is clearly Ubuntu based, and Mint also has the Debian edition anyway.

The Elementary tools cannot compete with the Mint tools (e.g. Updater, Software Manager, Timeshift). The Application Centre in particular suffers from the Gnome "duplo bricks" syndrome. I also hate that the windows have no minimise button, and that there's no proper start menu. Pretty much why Cinnamon broke away from Gnome.

Also, the Elementary OS community forums seem pretty dead. Just look at the Newbie questions, most don't get any reply. That's completely different with Mint.

@catgirldev skype can run in the browser too

@kiki Also, I hate that Elementary OS is begging me outright for money when downloading. As if I'd pay anything before I've tried and liked it! Incidentally, they're in financial trouble, which casts doubt on the future of the project: https://ubunlog.com/en/...

Mint doesn't put the "gimme money" in the way when downloading, but has the donation links in the website menu, and their financial situation looks pretty stable.

I‘ve installed Mint Xfce now and I‘m happy with how smoothly it runs compared to Windows 10.