If you have a PC or laptop that’s collecting dust and you want to save it, there are two good ways to do it. The first is to replace your old hard drive with an SSD unit: this alone will give it new life, whatever operating system you use.

However, it is also true that modern operating systems can be a bit greedy when it comes to memory and resources. This is where lightweight alternatives come into play.It’s designed precisely so that these slightly more modest computers can continue to be useful.

Chrome OS Flex turns your old laptop into (almost) a Chromebook

One of these alternatives is Chrome OS Flex, a special version of Google’s Chrome OS operating system that’s only available on certain computers (mainly Chromebooks), but has had a “free” iteration that can be installed on other configurations for several months now. .

As our Genbeta colleagues noted, Chrome OS Flex is a very interesting solution to give new life to humble old computers. The operating system is free and designed to be used just like Chrome OS. With the browser as the absolute hero of experience.

Although Google has a list of certified models that are compatible with Chrome OS Flex, if your computer meets a set of minimum requirements (Intel or AMD x86-64 CPU after 2010, 4 GB RAM, 16 GB storage) you will most likely be able to install and use this operating system .

The installation process is simple – create a USB and then start the computer to boot with it – and the result is to have a computer that looks very similar (but not identical) to that of a traditional Chromebook, but yes, inside , We will not have an app for Android or Google Playor with Parallels Desktop virtual machines running on Chrome OS.

For the rest, yes, we can count on the advantages of this operating system, which, although it allows offline work, concentrates many of its options on the cloud. We are faced with a lightweight operating system that is well suited to give new life to our equipment, and those who try it are generally very satisfied because everything seems to go very quickly and battery life gains a lot.

However, some may not be comfortable with the fact that this is a development made by Google, which is a company as we know it. likes to collect data It also does this when we use Chrome OS Flex (they explain this themselves).

Linux to the rescue

If you’re in this group, the obvious alternative is to install a “lightweight” Linux distribution. I have this operating system hundreds of varieties —277 active, according to DistroWatch — but there is a subset of them that specifically targets older or modest equipment, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of Linux on your older PCs and laptops.

Of course, it is possible to go with any of the popular distributions (Ubuntu, LinuxMint, Fedora, openSUSE, Manjaro, etc.) and choose lighter desktop environments or eliminate components, but as we said, there are generally distributions designed for computers with features. modest

Among these, antiX, Puppy Linux, LXLE Linux, Bodhi Linux, Artix Linux, Void Linux, Lubuntu or Devuan stand out. Of course there are more, but these are good examples. especially light approaches and they try to focus on making the most of the advantages of Linux on modest computers.

They use minimalist and lightweight window managers or desktop environments, eliminate heavy components – but then anyone can install them – and allow you to be very calm in the field of data collection, because we are dealing with Linux distributions that follow the Open Source philosophy. .

Either way, one thing’s for sure: Bringing an old laptop or PC back to life is easier than it seems. We probably won’t be able to work with very heavy or demanding tasks, but they will certainly be very useful as machines, e.g. modest office and navigation duties. It’s undoubtedly a good way to reuse old equipment that doesn’t seem to work anymore.

Image | Howard Bouchevereau

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