Linux is now one of the major operating system. Coming in different flavors known as Distributions or “Distros”, Nowadays Linux cover wide verity of hardware support, and runs smooth on modern hardware.

But what if you have old system with outdated hardware? Well, in that case also, Linux will work.

Yes, there are already many lightweight distros like Lubuntu, SparkyLinux and Bodhi, but here we are looking on those who much smaller.

There are some distros that are very small or we can say “tiny”, and they are best for old hardware computers. So, let’s see some the best Linux distros that you can use on your old computer (or in Virtualbox if you want to only test them before using).

1. Tiny Core Linux

What if you get a Linux distro that is at its minimum size only 11 MB? You would say “Are you kidding?”. No. Tiny core is one of the smallest Linux distribution. It also provides 16 Mb GUI version. Isn’t it tiny?

Image Source: tinycorelinux.net

Tiny core provides only base operating system, and other things you can easily download from internet and install it. It makes this distro very useful for old computers and you will have only those application which you really use and it will give good experience for web browsing and video.

Minimum System Requirement:

  • 46 Mb RAM (Microcore runs with 28mb of Ram)
  • i486DX minimum CPU (486 with a math processor)

2. Porteus Linux

Porteus is another good option in this list. It provides customization during download, so its size ranges from 270Mb to 350Mb. Live boot or installing it on SSD gives seamless experience. It’s base image is very small and it will take 256 Mb RAM for desktop environments, but it could jump up to 1Gb RAM depending on your choice of desktop environment.

Porteus KDE desktop

One of the best things about it that it doesn’t require hard disk. You run it directly from your flash drive.

Minimum System Requirement:

  • 36 Mb RAM (console version) Or 256 Mb RAM
  • 32/64 bit processor

3. Puppy Linux

Puppy Linux is the oldest distro in this list. It’s size is near about 300 Mb and it will require 1Gb of RAM, it’s based on Ubuntu and available from last two decades.

Image Source: puppylinux.com

Minimum System Requirement:

  • 256 M RAM
  • 32/64 bit processor

Which one is your best?

So here we listed current best tiny Linux distros. TinyCore is best for it’s small size and Puppy Linux give good experience and as it’s Ubuntu based, many people find it more useful. Let us know which one is your favourite.