I’m resetting windows 10 on my Thinkpad T580 for work but would like to create a partition for linux. It’s an older laptop and really chugs through games like Minecraft or RuneScape but I enjoy playing relaxing games while I listen to audiobooks at night. I grew up using windows which is why I’ve mostly used Ubuntu and ZorinOS in the past but I’d like to expand my horizons to something like kubuntu. I value good UI/UX design and something lightweight for my old potato. Any recommendations on Linux distros?

** Thanks for all the input! I tried Fedora first but it felt kind of clunky to me. Then I tried out Mint xfce and it’s right up my alley! I can run a separate Firefox profile right off the task bar that runs outside of my VPN which is perfect for Netflix and other sites that have issues. So far loving how customizable it is. Minecraft runs ok off GDLauncher, and lutris is really cool. I forgot I had a boat load of old GOG games that are perfect for this laptop. I really fucking love Linux 😆

  • BlinkerFluid@lemmy.ml
    3·
    1 year ago

    MX Linux.

    Imagine Linux Mint Debian edition, but it isn’t green and there are a lot of useful GUI tools. It’s also so near to actually being Debian that you can just install things meant for Debian on it. It also runs a backported kernel for modern graphics driver and chipset support so you get your stability and your performance all in one.

  • GandalfDG@lemmy.ml
    3·
    1 year ago

    If you want to shake things up with an arch derivative you can try EndeavourOS, there are a lot of different DEs you can choose straight from the installer

  • jjsearle@lemmy.ml
    3·
    1 year ago

    One of the Fedora spins, or if you are feeling brave Fedora Silverblue or Fedora Kinoite.

  • feetongrass@beehaw.org
    2·
    1 year ago

    Regata OS is a gaming oriented customization of Opensuse Tumbleweed. I’ve been using it for a year without issues.

  • poVoq@slrpnk.netM
    1·
    1 year ago

    KDE is surprisingly lightweight these days. Maybe try the Fedora KDE spin. Or if you need it even more light weight: the LXQt spin is also not bad.

  • UrbenLegend@lemmy.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    I’d say give a few Arch-based distros a try, or just straight up Arch if you’re feeling adventurous. Arch distros are just slim and speedy, which could be good for your old laptop. The new official archinstall tool makes it relatively easy compared to installing Arch the manual way, but if you’re looking for more ease of use EndeavourOS is a great option.

  • Trash Panda@lemmy.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    If your laptop is on the potato side I would personally avoid kde, it’s much lighter now than it used to be but still heavier than other options. Mint looks good in my personal opinion and, again in my opinion, is a better alternative if compared to ubuntu, it’s based on it but with some improvements. The default flavor comes with cinnamon, but if your laptop struggles it’s also available with xfce, which even older machines should be able to handle.

    • Rassilonian Legate@mstdn.social
      1·
      1 year ago

      @raccoon @Triage8420@lemmy.ml @linux_gaming
      I put xfce on a garbage laptop for my parents (who are used to much older windows) and they loved it, the laptop ended up breaking eventually but that was a hardware issue and they regularly ask me when I’ll be able to replace it

  • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
    1·
    1 year ago

    Stick to the main distros unless you have a specific reason to use a novel one. Despite its drawbacks, KUbuntu is great and I definitely recommend it. Once you find a thing or two you don’t like about it, you can swap to a distro that does those things differently and you’re off to the races :)

    PS Linux can breathe new life into a laptop, but if apps are too intense for your hardware it won’t magically give you more RAM… With the exception of Minecraft Prism Launcher + Fabulously Optimized, then your Linuxtop turns into a NASA supercomputer

    • Trash Panda@lemmy.ml
      3·
      1 year ago

      IMO one should never recommend manjaro. To suggest an easy arch endeavouros should be the way to go, why? Because the manjaro devs make way too many mistakes and a mistake or two can happen to anyone, but when it happens often it becomes a pattern, one where I wouldn’t want someone to deal with if it can be avoided.

        • CheshireSnake@lemmy.ml
          0·
          1 year ago

          Definitely try it. I started Linux with Mint since it’s the closest to Windows I could find. Later on I wanted to try bleeding edge but vanilla Arch was too complicated for a noob like me. Until I found EOS. The transition was smooth and painless. I learned more about Linux in a few months with EOS than years on Mint, but that’s a me problem. Now I have vanilla Arch on my VM and EOS on my laptop bare metal. It’s pretty stable, and that one-time Grub issue was the only hiccup I ever experienced that was not due to my stupidity. Lol.

          Now I want to try Gentoo, but man it’s even more complicated.

  • Cass.Forest@beehaw.org
    0·
    1 year ago

    I’m personally using Kubuntu because a lot of programs I like are built for Ubuntu already and while I’m fine with messing with building from source for some things, for most, I like my binaries prebuilt on a distro package service. Also I like KDE Plasma.

  • alienBlues@lemmy.ml
    0·
    1 year ago

    I’m using Linux Mint with the Cinnamon desktop on a Thinkpad older than yours, and everything works fine for me. I’ve seen somebody saying that the Xfce edition is slow for them, but maybe the MATE one is lightweight enough for you.