Jack Germain reports via El Reg
Debian-based Q4OS, developed by a team of software designers in Germany, has a lightweight design that allows it to run on nearly any hardware config. I have run it on [aging] computers from the early days of Windows Vista.
Q4OS version 2.4, Scorpion, released in early October, has a lot in its favour for new users and converts from Microsoft Windows 10. One of the factors that distinguishes the distro from more mainstream Linux offerings such as Ubuntu or Fedora is the default Trinity Desktop Environment [a fork of the last release of KDE3].
[...] Prior to this latest Q4OS release, Trinity was the only desktop option available. Being able to use other desktop options makes Q4OS more attractive.
It also lets users do something that nearly all other distros with multiple desktops do not. After you install the [the OS with its] default Trinity desktop, you can run the desktop installation chooser tool to install any of the other supported desktops--and repeat the process as often as you want to try out your favourite environments or change up your computing routine.
[Supported desktops include LXQT, XFCE4, Cinnamon, KDE Plasma, and MATE.]
The Q4OS Scorpion release comes with long-term support, which means the developer provides security patches and software updates for five years, giving this release a shelf life to at least October 2022. It is based on the Debian Stretch 9.2 and Trinity 14.0.5, which are among the latest platforms available.
A trend among Linux devs is to drop support for old 32-bit computers. Not the Q4OS team. The Q4OS community released both 64-bit ISOs for newer computers and 32-bit versions with or without the PAE memory extension technology. Thus, the OS will run on most of the legacy hardware still in circulation.
So if your desktop or laptop ran Vista, it will run Q4OS Linux fast and reliably. This is a smart way to energise old computers.
[...] The distro under the hood is stable and efficient. Everything about this distro's design and functionality makes using it pleasant and efficient.
(Score: 2) by forkazoo on Friday November 03 2017, @12:48AM
Ubuntu doesn't have any particular problem with you running whatever desktop environment you want. I generally use KDE, but the default is Gnome or Unity depending on the version. Other folks use xfce, which is also supported by the vendor, and just an apt-get away with no extra repositories or anything.