Please help me select one distro suitable for me.
 

Please help me select one distro suitable for me.

My system:
Motherboard: G45T AM2 V:1.0
CPU: Intel Core2 Quad 2.40 GHz
RAM: Apacer DDR2 800 SDRAM 4G
PSU: TrendSonic HS-450W
GPU: Intel G45 on board G45T

On the bove system, I have tried running 4 various Linux distros in the last 2 months:
Bionicpup 32-8.0
Mint-21.1 Xfce
LXLE Focal Release
PeppermintOS-i386

Please help me select one suitable for me. Please consider:
1. My hardware capability.
2. My ability to operate since this is the first time for me to try Linux.

Thank you.

My recommendation for a newbie is MX Linux, great distro, lots of helpful videos about using it, own forums with users & developers to answer questions specific to MX - https://mxlinux.org/

What did you think of the ones you tried? What shortcomings did you encounter? What are your goals with the machine? Knowing those answers will help us focus our recommendations.

If you liked Linux Mint or PeppermintOS, but found the GUI slowish, you can just swap out the Desktop Environment for something lighter, like LXDE or LXQt, or just a raw Window Manger without a full Desktop Environment. Many get by with just Openbox or FVWM, though the latter means editing configuration files to effect any changes and customizations.

With 4GB RAM, the web browsers are going to be the difficulty, regardless of distro. Other heavy applications will also be difficult, too. Yes, it's a lot of RAM but new programs tend to be pigs. A surprisingly large number will still run adequately in 4kB 4MB 4GB.

You have already learned to install several limited choice Linux distros and have tried a few desktops and browsers. You now have a better understanding of what the options available in a distro mean. I think that you should install a full featured distro such as Slackware or Debian and then experiment with different desktops and browsers.

That all tells us about the hardware and that it works, and would let us suggest what would RUN well on it, but nothing about what you USE it for! What distributions would be suitable for YOU will depend far more on YOU than on the hardware. What do you most use a computer for? What OS features and applications are important to you? One that runs on that hardware that supports those things will be a reasonable answer.

Right now anyone making a suggestion is shooting from the hip. Blind. In the dark. And calling whatever they hit the "target".

I'd recommend anything that is not based on the train-wreck named systemd.

If you want to really learn, I recommend LFS, Sackware, Devuan and more:-
https://without-systemd.org/wiki/ind...t_installation

Take a pick and see if can boot from a live usb first.

Yes because everyone knows the differences or cares? Systemd is not a train wreck to the majority of folks. Don't chase someone away from something based on a personal opinion whether founded on reality or not. Zealotry is never the right answer.

For new user to linux, You will be find with Linux Mint 20.3 mate or xfce. Mate looks better LM21.1 has issues with some hp printers with its updated hplip version in case you have a HP model.

It looks to me as if your hardware would work adequately with just about any distro. You might want to check out this thread: https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ro-4175623119/

I would suggest that you boot to some Live CD/USBs of the distros that you are interested in and pick the one you feel most comfortable with.

For what it's worth, my go-to distros are Slackware, Debian (Sid), and Mageia, and my go-to GUI is Fluxbox. Wherever I wander, I always come back to one of those distros.

Just my two cents.

What issues have you had with the linux distributions you have tried?

I can load live ISO images on a single USB drive and try them one at a time using Ventoy or E2B (see signature). You can find suitable distributions to try using Distrowatch.com. I would not worry about your hardware as 90% or more will work on that hardware out of the box. What you need to do is try some until you find one that is a good fit FOR YOU. (RE: Desktop options. Plasma/KDE is a good desktop that can be pretty and fast, but do not rule out ICE, XFCE, Mate, trinity, or other options without trying them. GNOME can be pretty, but you can pretty much rule out as it will slow you down.)

I think Mate or xfce are a good choice for the cpu type. Ubuntu 22.04 requires 4GB of ram. Mate and xfce will use a bit less around 600 to 700MB. If a web browser is used around 1gb+. Linux mint cinnamon uses 700MB and up ram depending what
is open.

There is no hard drive mentioned on your hardware list. I recommend a SSD either a Samsung 860 sata drive or one like that. This will speed up the booting and over time the applications you use will load faster.

I have a thinkpad t520 that boots to login in 5 seconds with a SSD drive.

You have a lot of suggestions already but this site may be of help in choosing,
https://linuxjourney.com/lesson/linux-history
Most of the distros mentioned there would work for you.
I suggest Mint myself.
good luck and enjoy the journey!

What a newbie doesn't need is another layer of unnecessary complexity aka systemd.
They should be able to learn and navigate the OS easily and as originally intended.

Thus Slackware, Devuan,LFS and a myriad of others to chose from.
Take a pick: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catego...ithout_systemd

Once familiar with the kernel, OS, filesystem, logs, etc then maybe decide to try an OS that has this trainwreck as pid1... or hopefully not

Jofto please do not worry if a Linux distributions have systemd or not. I use Linux mint which has it two of my friends also have Linux mint installed on multiple computer and laptops and love it. They are father and son. Debian based distributions use it.