Memory Leaks?
 

I no longer have Mandrake installed but I would like to go back to it. The problem I have with Win98SE is memory consumption, it never recovers no longer used memory and leaves me jipped.

Last time I tried I hoped Linux would fix this problem. Another one happened, it just wanted to use all my RAM off the bat. I have 256MB. I'd load Mandrake and login with a BlackBox manager. I'd open OpenWriter and then check the resources. 250MB would be in use,. One time I got Mandrake to admit it was using 140MB for X. My friend runs slackware, has 256MB of RAM and dose not have this problem (using that much RAM). Could the difference really be in the distro? (due that Slackware gives you a little more control) or are there other ideas?

The other thing I have a problem with is loading times...a few seconds for Mozilla or an OpenOffice component to load....is that normal for a 1ghz machine? (or could that relate back to the ram issue?)

Thanks

Addendum
 

This was only a three weeks ago with linux using Mandrake 9 (Dolphin)

Mandrake includes alot of stuff which is not nessiscary for everyone. If you really want a nice customized system may i suggest Gentoo but if you don't have a broadband connection I wouldn't suggest it. Also you have to be somewhat comfortable with linux and your machine.

I would advice Slack or Debian if you want a faster system but does not want to take the time to compile Gentoo!
Yoper also seems as a good alternative, but for me, it is too bloated with stuff.