Good version of Linux for Low-End Hardware

[shosh]

I have a PenIII laptop thats 500 Mhz that i would like to put to some use. Im looking for a simple version of linux that i can install on it but still windows-like in user interface. can anyone recommend a good version of linux that i can run on this computer?

[zapjb]

TinyMe a stripped down PCLOS distro or Puppy Linux.

[dbmp]

Ubuntu without the pretty eye candy runs quite well in low-end machines.

[raspberry1331]

if you still have doubts, you can try xubuntu, it's designed for older pcs.

[dreamtracker]

is perfect for you:
http://www.blagblagblag.org/

[Artemis]

PCLinuxOS is another good choice for low end hardware I was running it on a PIII laptop with no problems, the only thing I had trouble configuring was the addon WiFi card but that wasn't a major, it works very well for what you need.

[enviouz]

try dsl "damn small linux"

[zero64]

I would also suggest trying Xubuntu. It's lighter than Ubuntu but still looks nice by default and has a lot of Ubuntu's features.

[psxcite]

Would it support pfsense, for a low-end pc load-balance router?

[TheGiant]

i think PCLinuxOS is good for low-end hardware

[Papps78]

I would recomend you to try Luit.

[xopher]

Gentoo with a WM of choice, eg. fluxbox, which is very versatile and configurable. I mean, it's fast as lightning, but you can still make it look (really) nice. You have to know exactly what you're doing with gentoo though.. So it might be out of the question..
If that's the case, then I'd suggest trying Xubuntu, with it's xfce desktop environment it's not quite as light as fluxbox, but Id say it'd work pretty well nonetheless. And hey, if it doesn't, there's always fluxbox available for *buntu too. And with it's APT backend, you can almost say it's the most powerful and versatile choice out there.

[nsap]

try dsl "damn small linux"

DSL is nice, but I'd say try one of the Ubuntu versions first. DSL is great for really low end hardware, but I'd say with a 500MHz CPU and a decent amount of RAM, it's probably got enough power to run something a little better than DSL.