The 5 Best Linux Distros for Laptops

 Are you looking for a Linux distro to bring old laptops back to life? Here are some of the best Linux distros for laptops.

Maybe you just bought a new laptop. Or maybe you have an older laptop in your closet that you'd like to revive. Either way, the best Linux distros for laptops are those that offer better driver support and can accommodate the performance offered by most laptops.

People buy laptops for a specific purpose. That might be software development, creating graphic content, games, or office work. The Linux distros below are perfect for running on any laptop.

Choosing the Best Linux Distro for Laptops

New laptops come with processors that are just as powerful as desktop computers.

Desktop computers have components that can be replaced if they are not compatible with a particular Linux distro. That's not the case with laptops. Components are often soldered directly to the motherboard, so the Linux distribution you're using will need to accommodate that.

The Linux distros below have the best support for graphics and sound cards, webcams, wireless adapters, and more. Many are also very light, which is perfect for older laptops.

1. Manjaro Linux

Manjaro Linux

Manjaro Linux is one of the easier open-source Linux distros to learn how to use. It's designed to work right out of the box, with a variety of pre-installed software.

The advantage of Manjaro Linux is that it is known for having excellent hardware support, thanks to its hardware detection manager.

Manjaro is based on Arch Linux, one of the most popular and highly customizable Linux operating systems. There are lots of good reasons to install an Arch Linux distro like Manjaro.

You can easily change kernels without complicated troubleshooting. The Arch Linux based distro also lets you choose your own components. This means you can customize it to suit the particular laptop you install it on.

And if you're ever looking for support, Manjaro has an extensive community. You have access to the Arch Wiki, and of course the Manjaro forums.

Best of all, if you really want to take Manjaro to the fullest, you can buy the Spitfire, a laptop made and sold entirely by the Manjaro team.

2. Ubuntu

Ubuntu

The obvious choice for the best Linux distro for laptops is definitely Ubuntu. It's easily one of the most popular and well-known Linux distributions, which means it comes with a large user community as well as solid online support.

But what makes it especially useful for laptops new and old alike is the fact that it's free, lightweight, and offers excellent driver support for most hardware.

Ubuntu will usually accept whatever hardware you connect to your laptop. This is thanks to the fact that most manufacturers provide Ubuntu drivers.

In the Ubuntu Software Center, you will find free applications to complete almost any task on your laptop.

It works fine on older laptops that are a few years old, but it's important to note that it requires a lot more RAM than many of the other lightweight distros out there. So, if your laptop is really old, you might want to choose one of the other Linux distros on this list.

However, many people believe that Ubuntu does many things better than Windows. All these reasons make it the perfect alternative OS for laptops.

3. Elementary OS

ElementaryOS

Elementary OS is an Ubuntu-based distribution. You can get a beautiful custom desktop environment known as Pantheon.

Beyond the fact that it's very aesthetically pleasing is the fact that it's renowned as a powerful operating system that can achieve anything you need to do with a laptop. And if it's a low-end laptop, it can run that too.

The Elementary OS community develops the OS to be as light and efficient as possible. Having said that, it runs effortlessly on a wide variety of low-end laptops (or even desktops if you prefer).

It also comes with most of the drivers a low-end laptop should start working right out of the box.

The display utility includes a night light feature for when you are using your laptop in low-light environments such as a student lounge or library.

It also provides convenient scaling, and the ability to mirror your display if you're using a laptop to give a presentation on a larger screen.

Elementary OS is considered one of the best alternative Linux distros for anyone switching from Windows or macOS. And if you're a Mac user, this is great thanks to the Mac-like appearance of the desktop. And if you ever run into any issues, the Elementary OS community forum provides excellent assistance.

4. OpenSUSE

OpenSUSE

The openSUSE Linux distro is sponsored by big companies like B1 Systems and AMD (and of course, SUSE).

It is also popular among system admins and computer science students. Why? Because it gives you control over many functions and services without the need to learn or memorize complex commands.

This is thanks to YaST, one of the best and most powerful system configuration tools of any Linux distro out there. This means that you can easily configure the OS to suit the particular laptop system you are installing it on.

It has fantastic driver support, and worked great right out of the box. It was even given a trial run by ZDNet on a new laptop with the latest hardware installed. They found that it worked flawlessly.

“Display, graphics, sound, USB and SD slots. Nothing special to install, download, compile or anything else. When I connect the HDMI display, with the system already running, it is recognized and configured at the optimal resolution as a desktop extender, all without interfering with the laptop's display. Very very nice. “

With the ability to handle both old and new hardware, you can be sure openSUSE will work great on your old laptop. And if you run into any issues, openSUSE provides an entire section of their Wiki devoted to helping people install and use openSUSE on laptops.

5. Linux Mint

Linux Mint

Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, but many people choose to install it due to its light weight. It also feels a little more familiar to people who are used to the Windows user interface.

It comes pre-installed with a number of things Ubuntu doesn't install by default.

For example, it includes the codecs you need to watch Flash videos. Ubuntu has an option to install third party tools for this during installation, but the option is not set by default.

The benefit you get by installing Linux Mint over Ubuntu is a lighter OS that works on older laptops. But you still get access to the Ubuntu software repositories to download any additional applications and tools you might want.

The Best Linux Distros For Old Laptops

If you're focused on installing Linux on an old laptop, there are a few important things you need to consider.

* Weak power processor

* Unlimited RAM

* Old device (hard to find driver)

* Limited hard drive space

For all these reasons, you may want to avoid Ubuntu on older laptops. Ubuntu runs efficiently on new laptops, and those that are several years old. So choose the Linux distro listed above which is resource efficient. The best choices here include:

* Manjaro: customized as a scaled down OS with limited features

* Elementary OS : designed to be lightweight and efficient

* Linux Mint : a favorite among fans of old Linux laptops

You can't go wrong installing this Linux distro on an old laptop you want to bring back to life. You can even pair your choice with one of the best lightweight Linux desktop environments so as not to overwhelm your machine.

Conclusion

When you're trying to decide which of the above Linux distros you should install on your laptop, the choices depend on what you want.

If you prefer a beautiful interface with more of a macOS feel, then you can go for Elementary OS. If you are looking for an OS which is very easy to use but still very functional, then Manjaro is the right choice. If you are installing on an old laptop and want a lightweight OS that has the look and feel of a Windows PC, then Linux Mint is the right choice.

Really, it comes down to your intentions for using the laptop, and your own preferred user interface. That's the beauty of Linux distros, there's a flavor to suit anyone.