Best Linux to Work with Wine on Old Laptop

[stevefoobar]

I’m considering a Linux version for an old laptop because it is starting to limp along under the weight of Windows XP SP3 and the constant updates. I haven’t even looked at Linux since some of the very first versions were made available, so I would greatly appreciate some advice and help getting up to date. I presume things have changed a lot and indeed have gotten much easier and more “mainstream”.

I’m very technically proficient with software/hardware/networking under Windows. I’m a former UNIX guy from a long, long time ago but remember very little, even though I was quite proficient at the time. We’re talking pre-windows days here! 
This particular laptop is an Acer 3000 originally designed for Windows XP SP2. It has an AMD Sempron 2800+ (1.6 GHz) processor with 2 GB of RAM and a 38 GB drive currently formatted as FAT32.

I would prefer to be able to run Wine so that I could use Windows apps—for starters MS Access 2003 and MS Office 2007 Suite (although I would consider OpenOffice if it’s compatible enough) as well as Firefox. I would also need for the Linux OS to be able to see the shared folders on my local networked Windows machines (both Windows XP SP3 and Windows 7 machines) and the Windows machines to see the Linux shared folders.

Is this even possible?

If so, what is the “best” (whatever that really means) version of Linux you would recommend for this purpose and hardware? I really don’t want to fiddle around constantly with the OS or have to compile my own executables, find my own drivers, etc.

Thanks a lot!

Steve
Chicago, Illinois USA

[dimesio]

Any Linux distro should be able to run Wine, and all of the major distros package it. Choosing a distro is largely a matter of taste. They pretty much all have live cd or dvd versions; try a few, and pick the one you like best. I would recommend a lighter-weight desktop for those specs.

As for Office 2007, basic features work well but some advanced features don't (notably, macros don't work in Excel). Access is buggy. Firefox works in Wine (wine-gecko is based on it) but I don't know why you'd need it when there is a native version. Check the AppDB for reports from users on whether/how well various apps/games work in Wine.

[stevefoobar]

So how do I integrate drivers into the distro I pick with Linux? I presume they don't have a huge list of drivers built in. Do I have to find them myself? Compile them myself? With this laptop, this is the built-in hardware it has:

Audio: Realtek AC'97
Video: SiS M760GX
Network: SiS 900-Based PCI Fast Ethernet
Wireless: Broadcom 802.11g

Also, how compatible is the networking in Linux with the networking and shared folders Windows uses?

Thanks.

[dimesio]

Those are not Wine questions. You need to ask them either on a distro support forum, or a general Linux forum.

[lahmbi5678]

Hi Steve,

I really don't want to discourage you, but wine is still far from perfect, depending on what you need, you may be disappointed. Before you delete your laptop's hard drive to install linux, you really should test wine and your favorite Windows applications on an up-to-date PC. Is there enough free space on your hard drive for dual boot? A typical linux would need at least 5-10 GB plus the applications you'd install.

One thing, that really might be a roadblock, is the SiS M760GX, there are linux drivers for it, but no 3D hardware acceleration. Of course that wouldn't matter, if you don't want to play DX9 (or later games) games under wine. But the linux distros tend to neglect older hardware, so some fiddling may be required to get the driver working.

All in all I think, you'll have much more fun keeping Win XP, at least for some months, until April 8th 2014, when MS will finally terminate its extended support for Win XP. Otoh, there are still somewhat like 35% PCs out there with Windows XP on it (including dual-boot systems with linux, Win 7, etc). Maybe MS could be forced into further support, if in April 2014 there'd be still 30% WinXP PCs out there. I'm sure, that MS is seeing that as some kind of threat and I'd expect MS to start a massive update campaign to get all the XP users to Win8. Maybe the XP fans should start a campaign "Don't drop XP. It's always been a good friend. Don't update to Win8."

If you still want to try linux and wine on your laptop, please consider it as some kind of adventure, it may become a hard and dangerous effort, but you'd probably learn a lot of things.

[stevefoobar]

Thanks everyone. I should have been more clear that this laptop has almost no files on it and only a few applications so that's why the 38GB drive has been more than enough for Win XP SP3. I also never play games of any kind on this laptop. Of course, I do need video and audio codecs to work and Firefox.

The idea of a dual boot is interesting, however, I have only 12 GB of hard drive space left so that sounds like it would be very tight unless I start removing large apps like MS Office 2007 and MS Streets and Maps but that would only recover about 2 GB.

The other idea I had is to make a complete disk image with Norton Ghost, then load Linux and if I can't get it working, just reload the Ghost Image of Windows XP.

[stevefoobar]

OK, thanks guys. I'm about to give Linux Mint with Xfce desktop a shot because it appears to have a very small footprint. I have no idea if it comes bundled with Wine or not but I guess I'll find out soon enough. I hope it supports Wine since I need to run a MS Windows Access app (not MS Access itself but an exe app designed with MS Access). I think I may also try LibreOffice and see if I can avoid Office 2007 entirely. Hopefully I'll get lucky with the hardware and network folder sharing access.