Hello. I bought a new computer recently, and the computer I’m replacing is still good, but it only works as a tablet now. I’m considering putting Linux on it, but would it be worth it or should I get rid of my old computer? Thanks!
You should be able to boot from an SD card, a USB drive, or a CD to try out Linux without actually installing it on your computer’s hard drive.
You haven’t given any useful info. What are the specs? What do you plan to use it for? Media? Gaming? Data storage? Please be more specific.
It’s a Lenovo 2 in 1, 256gb hard drive, windows 11. I’d be using for browsing, media. I’d be using my newer computer more but the old computer would be a backup. I’d mostly use it to try out Linux distro.
Unfortunately this type of computer (2 in 1, x86 tablets, etc.) has generally very limited IO and a strange BIOS configuration (32-bits UEFI) that makes installing Linux more difficult than on a normal laptop (not impossible though).
You will need to provide us with the exact model you have in order to know exactly what’s ahead of you.
Mint MATE is good for old computers, but I wonder you’d need to configure the tablet-like “touch” input manually and that could be some work.
I’ve done this with almost every computer I’ve built/owned from MacBooks to desktops, and it depends on your use. Want to use it to spin up say a small private nextcloud/plex/lemmy/Remote Desktop/NAS/whatever server? usually works pretty well! if you have no use for the computer then it could be worth it to just get your feet wet in linux/FreeBSD/HaikuOS or something like that. Otherwise it’s probably better to just recycle or sell it if it’s just going to collect dust either way.
Linux will run it no problem, but as soon as you open a web browser it might die