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Hmm, I never use the "L" word when showing someone an alternate OS for their old systems.

I say, "Here's a copy of Puppy http://www.puppyos.com/ it works pretty good, Beatrix http://www.watsky.net/ looks really pretty if you want to try it." If their system's more up to date, Ubuntu or Vector. If they're actually still using a 486, Vector 1.8

Thing is, most of the people using an old windows OS are casual users, and as long as they can read their text files, browse pictures, and access "the internet" they don't care what's running, as long as it works.

Oh, yeah. Stuff like Damn Small Linux, Beatrix and (formally) Knoppix? They don't help anyone.

BeatrIX Linux - http://www.watsky.net/

Jonathan

Mine's still working after 10 years - http://www.alphant.com/

there's beatrix linux at http://www.watsky.net/. it's pretty compact....

There is also BeatrIX that would run off a USB stick.

FWIW BeatrIX is built to run on those via chips.

I've never tried it, but Beatrix linux claims to be originally optimized for Via mini-itx mobos/cpus.

it has been done, a dozen of times
what these Linux distros really lacks is publicitity and marketting .. ie an excellent P.R Machine.
Microsoft can afford that, Apple too, contributors already spend much of their free time helping, they dont have the cash also.

So in short what Linux distros need are millionaire patron.
Ubuntu is an example of how much patronage matters.

Many tried in varies way - maybe you could try your version?

Linspire's approach is of Click to Install, run everything as root, offer interesting goodies such as iTunes, etc

Xandros which tries to appeal to the business man, hides even the terminal, if you are a techie, it is a difficult distro to work with. But non-techies find it a marvel.

Beatrix is probably the closest you've envisage, with but essential apps and very light and fast.

Puppy Linux approach is have it micro light weight in Ram, they don't strip the techie-stuff but add lots of tutorials, wizards and follow-throughs. I have to admit I liked it, its good for old machines too.

Yoper's approach is to get you up and ready where one-CD installs everything you might need and more - very fast. The community is very helpful and friendly. The idea is that the distro should be as multi-media ready as possible on things like plugin (which are short of impossible for a newcome to install).
Wonderful idea, but we need more help with that, like all free-distros specially - we need helpers, contributors, coders, packagers.

In the Linux community, the will is there, just the challenge and obstacle is very big. Drivers and hardwares primarily set for Windows machine and nothing else .. etc

What we all need is patronage, sponsorship.

What we need is what Apple, Microsoft + etc has:
money-money-money (even if its to pay for hosting our servers).

Remember the saying: easier-said-than-done

So I would urge anyone that is really concerned to join a distro that matches your ideals and instead of criticizing offer help - there are many ways of doing that, learning being one.

If the idea of coding is really off-putting I found reading this pretty interesting and applicable to any open source project:

Q: Are there non-coding ways to help?

I tested Ubuntu live cd, and found the menu was stripped down, similar to what is found in Beatrix Linux.
Also, did not like the file manager provided, I'm an Emelfm fan.
Tried to listen to internet radio stations on Shoutcast, and found that Ubuntu only does .ogg stations, so had to google that to find an alternative. There is no alternative to Shoutcast, really, so they need to fix that. Almost all the livecd distros have some kind of shortcoming becomes noticed with testing and use. I try and work with each one for a while to see just what I can get it to do. Keeps me busy.

One gets used to the Gnome wm in Ubuntu, but I would like KDE. Sorry to see Debian going without KDE.
In my Knoppix remaster, (screenshots in signature), I default to IceWM to keep it lite, but also have Fluxbox and KDE. One can switch back and forth if needed.
It's true that Knoppix puts all kinds of programs in the menus, and that probably is confusing to a Windows user trying a Linux desktop out. That's probably why Ubuntu limits the menu, and it is nice and simple to be sure. Very much like Beatrix.
Other problem with the livecd Ubuntu is the long bootup. Knoppix is much quicker, and does provide a way to restore personal settings. I did not find that in Ubuntu anywhere.
I'm running SLAX 5.0.5 now, and can restore my programs and settings at bootup from a big file called slaxconf.mo on another partition.
SLAX uses KDE, but can boot into Fluxbox. I added Firefox and Opera8, and the SLAX configsave did keep all of that, something that Knoppix cannot do in a restoration. It takes a remaster to do that.
The latest Knoppix has Firefox, almost everyone else has put it in their livecd distro by now, including a new SLAX popcorn edition.

...is called BeatriX.

Also switched to LiteStep as an alternate shell, and Opera's the browser of choice on it. Running Kerio 2.something as a lightweight firewall, and BitDefender as a free AV prog to run on demand (wouldn't go for something resident).

It's running better on it than WinME ever did (like that's difficult, heh). Previously ran Beatrix http://www.watsky.net/ on it just to see how well Gnome 2.8 would run in a really stripped down distro. (Answer: surprisingly not too badly, though the XP lite install is a bit snappier.)

Something using Fluxbox (like damn small linux), IceWM or even XFce would be better of course, but the point was to see how well it would run something heavier.

I do IT Support at a nearly 99% Microsoft site, so OSS isn't used there, but at home I run http://www.watsky.net/

I have 2 sisters with old PII class computers which they just use for surfing/email/WP. They ran Win98 and at least twice a month I would have to call out and fix their systems due to spyware or them accidentally deleting things or odd DLL problems. I moved the more tech savvy sister to http://www.ubuntulinux.org/ and the "I refuse to use anything but Windows" sister to http://www.linspire.com/ about 3 months ago, and apart from some minor problems with a Lexmark printer I haven't heard a peep since from either of them and they are delighted with the computers.

At work I actually browse the net using a http://h71000.www7.hp.com/pathworks32/ link from my XP machine to an OpenVMS box and surf with http://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/products/ips/csw b/cswb.html so I don't worry about spyware or viruses there either :)

Jonathan

http://www.justgofaster.com/

I was able to use gnome 2.8 on a Celeron 433 with 64Mo of RAM. Though you either need to tweak your configurationhttp://www.gnome.org/learn/admin-guid e/2.6/ch09.html/
or to use a dedicated distribution like Beatrix http://www.watsky.net//
which include gnome and use dirty trick with the kernel to improve performance.

I did, and I disagree. Gnoppix may be a good LiveCD in six months, but as of right now it's a bit too fat, slow, and buggy. I would rephrase what you said very slightly:

If you like Gnome more than KDE, you should really try BeatrIX.

Like Gnoppix, BeatrIX tracks Ubuntu. Unlike Gnoppix, it uses the Knoppix bootloader for hw detection. Plus, most importantly, "It just works".

Or, if you want to experience Debian/Ubuntu -- heck, make that Linux in general -- without the hassle, just download the BeatrIX ISO, burn it, and boot.

"Small, simple, elegant." They mean it.

The OS you're after is BeatrIX. Is is a minimal Linux distro based on Knoppix and Ubunto which of course makes it Debian at heart. The default desktop has 4 icons to do what most people need. You can of course apt-get anything else you want. The final release is scheduled for early 2005. And yes the developer is quite obsessed by his cat. I have set it up on an old 400Mhz PII PC for my brother who has never used Linux before, it runs very nicely.

The OS you're after is BeatrIX. Is is a minimal Linux distro based on Knoppix and Ubunto which of course makes it Debian at heart. The default desktop has 4 icons to do what most people need. You can of course apt-get anything else you want. The final release is scheduled for early 2005. And yes the developer is quite obsessed by his cat. I have set it up on an old 400Mhz PII PC for my brother who has never used Linux before, it runs very nicely.