The Best Freeware for Old Computers
This list is being compiled as a collective community project. We encourage you make a contribution by directly editing the list using the Wiki features of this site
To edit the list, register with the site or login if you are already registered. Registration is free, private and immediate. Once registered just click the Edit button next to the article title to start editing.
- If you have a suggestion for one of the blank categories, please add it in.
- If you have a suggestion for another software category then add it to the end of the current list.
- If you want to add download links or product descriptions, that would be a big help as well.
Only one or two items should be in each category on the list. They should emphazise speed over features, as long as they offer standard functionality and easy usability.
Example: Take four web browsers: Lynx, K-Melon, FIrefox, and IE7. IE7 can not run on a slow machine, so remove it from the list. Lynx is the fastest, but has a text-only interface. That leaves K-Melon and Firefox. K-Melon uses Firefox's rendering engine, and has enough other features to be a competent full-time browser. It is also much smaller than Firefox. Therefore, despite having a smaller feature set then Firefox, it would go on the list.
Much freeware nowadays is too resource-demaning to work efficiently on a computer that has 256 MB of memory or less. Even Windows XP has a hard time running on these computers. This page is intended as a one-page resource for keeping those computers alive.
1. Best Operating Systems
2. Best Anti-Virus Software
3. Best Firewall
4. Best Word Processor
5. Best Spreadsheet Editor
6. Best Media Player
7. Best File Archiving Utility
8. Best Instant Messaging Client
9. Best PDF Viewer
Puppy Linux
Website: http://www.puppylinux.org/ Website: http://www.xubuntu.org/
Download link: http://www.puppylinux.org/downloads
Author: Barry Kauler, et al.
Current version: 4.1
Version date: October 5, 2008
Download file size: 94MB
License: Open Source
Additional software required: None
64 Bit capable: Yes
Portable version available: Yes (Boots off of CD and USB)
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Download link: http://www.xubuntu.org/get
Author: Canonical Ltd./Ubuntu Foundation
Current version: 8.04
Version date: April 24, 2008
Download file size: ~550 MB
License: Open Source
Additional software required: None
64 Bit capable: Yes (Seperate Version)
Portable version available: No
Non-English languages supported: Yes
Have your say! Edit this list!
This list is being compiled as a collective community project. We encourage you make a contribution by directly editing the list using the Wiki features of this site
To edit the list, register with the site or login if you are already registered. Registration is free, private and immediate. Once registered just click the Edit button next to the article title to start editing.
- If you have a suggestion for one of the blank categories, please add it in.
- If you have a suggestion for another software category then add it to the end of the current list.
- If you want to add download links or product descriptions, that would be a big help as well.
This page is created and (for now) maintained by Arithmomaniac.
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I use Ubuntu for my daily computing (with VMs running three flavors of Windows, SUSE Linux and PCBSD), but I've also used Puppy Linux on older computers for three years now, and it's amazing to me how much it has improved over that time without losing its usefulness on older computers. ANd the Puppy community just keeps rolling unique flavors for folks to use. A Very Nice OS. As long as it remains such a well-designed OS option, I'll likely have at least one Puppy computer running around my place. Call me a Puppy fanboi. ;-)
Damn Small Linux (http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/) has many of Puppy's advantages but takes a slightly different tack--some different included apps, different GUI, etc.-that may also suit some folks. Can be booted from a USB drive as well. Not my personal cuppa, but I certainly found it useable.
I considered DSL, but it really lacks interoperability with other OSes. Ted, for example, is not as much a word processor in the Word sense as in the WordPad sense. For 30 Megs, I'd take Puppy any day.
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