Yeah, the RAM is very important factor. My old Pentium was very slow with KDE 3.x.x and that's what you can expect from it. However it was mainly because of the RAM (40 MB). I found some 72 pin PS/2 SIMM modules for it and now it has 128 MB. With this it still can't play films and games, but it was possible to do comfortable web browsing and text editng under KDE 3 without pain. So if you want to have a recent DE the RAM is very important. It isn't using so much CPU time for itself but it is loading too much of libraries and using too much of memory. And it is true that you can do more with Windows on old PCs. IE6 on Windows 98SE runs very smooth on P1/40MB. You can also play MP3s and some videoclips with very low compression. But there is something which is also important. You can't run WinXP on 266MHz or lower, but even the newest version of KDE will run with all of the special effects, although very slow. Linux programs does not require special hardware to run, if you want to run something it won't say "go and buy a new CPU, because your is too old and slow"

Someone said that Win98 runs better probably cause it's created for hardware in the 90's while linux continued to evolve. True!

But I remember one distro saw just that. I remember reading a review with a lightweight distro that used older versions of most software like KDE. This was created earlier than current versions thus it should have less requirements hehe :P See my point ? Go search, if you find that then you're in luck.
I remember kde 2.x it was actually running kinda fast for me, later on using the same machine and kde3 was about to slow down. So if you want the latest and greatest then linux might have a price. Google.com is the solution, if you find the distro I talked about, don't hesitate to post a link :P

@ Dark Carnival

Would by any chance, the distribution you are talking about be Deli Linux? Because I just came across it and it seems great. It's very aimmed to older computers (for a range from 486 to Pentium 166) using very light weight programs as an older kernel, xfree, dillo browser and so on. It even has a nice development packages including gcc, python and perl. It's fully compatible with Slackware 7.1, meaning that you could get into Slackware 7.1 ftp and download and install any package from there as usual (installpkg <package_name.tgz>. What is great is, there are even great jewels at Slackware's ftp as KDE 1.x which are small and should work with Deli Linux.

I think it's worth the shot. I'm downloading Deli and all Slackware 7.1 packages and see how it works in here

Regards!

right about it.

if he wants to put linux with kde 3.2 or gnome 2.6 on an old machine he better upgrade or live with it...

listening to your description it seems like it Just heard a reference to that distro a long time ago.. Glad you found it ! (now where's that old computer at hahaha :P )

ghahha . Been looking after mine too. It was right here a minute ago, I think

Oops, and we have a winner ladies and gentlemen. Deli Linux is great for old computers. I will be writing a review about it as soon as I've some free time. So far, I can say, it's _very_ worthy the shot. The installation is simple (if you are familiar with Slackware installation) and the iso is no bigger then 95 MB and it's bootable. If you don't have a CD-rom, it's possible to do the other Linux classic installations as network or hd.

Thing is, Deli Linux is pretty fast. Just for fun, I've decided to download all packages made for Slackware 7.1 (which Deli is based on...) and installed KDE 1.0. It works flawless even with KDE. Media is no longer a problem and for the first time ever, I was able to play CD's with my 166 MHZ and Linux. Although KDE 1.x is a pretty old desktop, everything is there, as kwrite, kscd, konsole, kmail, ksirc.

Please note, Deli does not come with KDE, you've to download it from Slackware, but it's no problem to install it, if you wish to do so. Otherwise Deli is a very solid distribution with a plenty of light weight programs to choose from as Dillo, sylpheed, etc

Regards!

Some snapshots of Deli and KDE One in action:

http://www.geocities.com/kooltux/snapshots/deli/

those are shots from my Compaq Armada 7350 MT. Spec:

Intel Pentium 166 MHZ
32 MB RAM
2GB HD
Double Speed CD-rom
Floppy
28k Modem

cool!

Yeah DeliLinux runs great, the only reason I was looking for a different distro was because I didn't like any of the GUIs w/ it, I did like it enough to write the install guide on the site though :-P. also the x server is a little beta buggy, but that is no big deal. So how easy was it to install? just installpkg kde.tgz and it showed up in xwmconfig? if so i feel dumb. I don't have my deli linux iso anymore though, I guess i'll have to get it again eventually maybe.

And the KDE 1 screensavers are also good. The first time I see DeliLinux was when I was looking for lightweight distro to install on my old computer because I was afraid to install any Linux on the new PC (I was a newbie and I didn't know how reliable Linux is). So I was very happy that there was a desktop distro for old computers. However I realised it was Slackware 7.0 based and installed ZipSlack 9.1 and then the normal Slackware on both the new and old PC but I still think Deli is excellent.

Thanks guys for the replies! Good to know that there're more peoples around who liked Deli . I also loved it

So, vdogvictor is the Victor who wrote the installation guide. I've to say that you've saved me with your guide. I've installed even Slack 3.5 before, but Deli really gave me a little problem when running "xf86config". However, I saw in your tutorial "delisetup" command, and that fixed the problem setting up vesa . Thanks man!

It was not easy nor difficult. But I doubt any installation of KDE or Gnome is/was easy .
I went to Slackware 7.1 ftp (slow, really slow ftp. Took me over 8 hours to download roughly a couple of hundred MB in a 2.5 DSL connection, so beware)

I then downloaded all packages from "kde1" series and installed all of them to avoid problems. I think the hole thing installed is like 17 MB, plus, you get a hole bunch of useful tools and konsole, kwrite, korganizer, kmail... etc. I really recommend installing it all to get a nice, complete desktop setup. I went to the folder where all kde packages where and:

KDE went to /opt/kde/ and it's executable was at /opt/kde/bin/. I've tried and tried and tried to export the PATH to make KDE run. I did not work. I then tried to create a symlink from /opt/kde/bin/startkde to /usr/bin. It worked, but crashed because it could not find the other KDE dependencies to start properly, as kpanel. I thought the only solution was to make symlinks of all /opt/kde/bin to /usr/bin. That not only sounds as a bad idea, but also should be over 150 symlinks .

Playing with Midnight Command, I've accidentally made a big mistake. Instead of linking all files, I've moved all the files from /opt/kde/bin to /usr/bin. And guess what? It works without one single problem . gheheh.

You will not be able to choose KDE on the Delisetup >> Setup Window Manager, however, all you've to to is to edit the file /home/user/.xinitrc and you will see at the end of the file, your current window manager, mine was "exec icewm". I commented that line out and added "/usr/bin/startkde", not even "exec" is needed.

Bad way of installing KDE and working with PATH, but worked well at the end

I had a similar issue trying to get a decent looking OS to replace win98 on my old box (PII 266 96mb RAM). Went through about 20 in total. I've settled on Slackware (via Vector) plus Dropline Gnome. It's a beautiful thing. Granted, it is a little slower than when I had win98, but I believe once I tweak the kernel, things should get better (i hope).

Anyway, along the way I came across feather linux, an extremely lightweight linux distro. SUPER easy to install (like fallin off a log), and it uses very lightweight x windowing systems (i.e. not xfree86) that makes everything just fly! It's come quite a ways since I tried it and I heartily recommend it -- using XFCE4 with it (now an click-to-install option i understand) will not slow it down in the least.