Revive your old laptops, hardware with Ubuntu

Monday, October 16, 2006

Now that Windows Vista is on the verge of being released the vast majority of the users seem inclined toward buying new hardware to run it.

Few think however about the users that do not want to be told by Microsoft when to buy new hardware. And what about the users that have older laptops or hardware and still want to use it, without giving up features? Simply said he or she should switch to Ubuntu.

To prove this point on the online version of PC World Scott Spanbauer reported its test with Ubuntu and his old PCs. The choice of Ubuntu is not casual because this Linux distribution has a live-CD version (it means it can be run without installing it on your hard disk) and is one of the most user oriented distribution.

He gives good tips on how to speed up the system to work even with very old laptops or, as in his case, old hardware. Once the operating system is up and running Spanbauer also offers some advice to protect Ubuntu from the attacks coming from the net.

The first tips when it comes to security are to run only the necessary services and to use a firewall if you plan to use older laptops or hardware as a server.

In addition to the solutions mentioned by Spanbauer you can also consider another user interface for the iptables firewall: webmin. It’s a free interface that lets you manage the service with your browser without recurring to the command line.

Speaking about security PC World also suggests using an antivirus. While a viral attack is less probable on Linux this is still a great advice.

Another commercial solution to the one mentioned by Spanbauer is the Sophos Anti-Virus, one of the best anti-virus currently available. It offers a 30-day trial so you can try it before buying it. It’s definitively worth a try and I am sure you will be glad that you still have your old laptops around.