Published May 8, 2026, 12:30 PM EDT João has been covering the tech world for over 7 years, with a heavy focus on laptops and the Windows ecosystem. I also love all things tech and videogames, especially Nintendo, which he's always happy to talk about. Prior to joining XDA in 2021, he worked at Neowin: https://www.neowin.net/news/poster/jo%C3%A3o-carrasqueira/ It's often said that Linux is the perfect way to breathe new life into an old laptop, but the exact version of Linux you should choose is always up in the air. Linux Mint is a common recommendation that's stable and modern enough to have all the features you need, but there are others that are more focused on even older hardware, like antiX and MX Linux . But one option that deserves more attention is Lubuntu. An official flavor of Ubuntu, it aims to deliver a lightweight and fast experience for older machines while still having all the modern conveniences you could want, since it's based on the latest Ubuntu release.…