So running an old computer...A Compaq Armada M300 (PIII 500Mhz 320MB 6GB)

Looked at all the "old computer threads"...and still cant decide...(no polls on these threads?)

-Vector
-Puppy
-Xubuntu
-Zenwalk
-Wolvix
-Slackware

Infact I might dual boot....one of them being Puppy....
Would be for student use: Wordprocessing, Internet, minor graphix and web editing, playing around with desktops...

Arch is a good choice for speed. Only install what you choose. Or try fluxbuntu or Xubuntu if you want a light desktop and an easy setup.

DSL
http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/

BeaFanatIX
http://bea.cabarel.com/

Elive:
http://www.elivecd.org/

Luit Linux
http://luitlinux.sarovar.org/

At 320 mb RAM, you can actually run some of the more intensive distros.

I run Kubuntu Feisty on an AMD Athlon K7 (500Mhz) with 384 mb RAM, and have also ran it on a PIII 733mhz 160mb RAM.

Puppy will fly on that system, but you don't need to install it to your HDD. Use is as a live CD, and it will run purely off of RAM (allowing access to your CD drive after boot). It will even save its state on your HDD as a live CD, saving your preferences and settings.

DSL will also fly.

Xubuntu is a fantastic distro. In fact, I like the layout even better than Ubuntu's. It focuses heavily on GTK applications, so it's a little slower than other distros that use XFCE, but on this system this shouldn't matter. Xubuntu Feisty ran extremely well on my PIII 733mhz 160 RAM.

I'd also recommend looking into PCLinuxOS 2007. Your hardware specs are good for this distro as well, and it has an excellent software range, and KDE to boot. This currently occupies my PIII, and runs at a swift speed (a little slower than Xubuntu, but not by much).