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Using vintage laptops in 2024: How do you make it work? (lemmy.world)

submitted 3 months ago by AusatKeyboardPremi@lemmy.world to c/retrocomputing@lemmy.sdf.org

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I have an old ThinkPad T42 coming my way. I plan to use it alongside my daily driver mainly for reading, emacs, and retro gaming. I will be dual booting a lightweight flavour of Linux (TBD) and Windows 98 on it.

However, I am a bit concerned about its ability to handle today's internet, with all of its heavy websites.

I would love to hear from those of you who are still using old ThinkPads (or other vintage laptops) in 2024. How do you make it work? Do you use lightweight browsers, specific configurations, or lightweight websites to get around the limitations of older hardware?

Are there any specific tips or tricks you can share for getting the most out of an old ThinkPad on the modern web?

Looking forward to hearing about your experiences!

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[–] vins@lemmy.sdf.org 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

As others pointed out, finding Win98 drivers for that will be quite a challenge. The same probably applies to Windows 2K/Me. If for some reason you don't like XP, a good alternative for T43 is OS/2 based OSs, starting from 0S/2 Warp 4.52. I tend to prefer supported and maintained software as long as the device is expected to surf the internet, so ArcaOS would be a better alternative.

Linux support for 32-bit x86 is shriking day by day; at this point you'd better install NetBSD on anything i486 onward (but this is just my opinion).

[–] AusatKeyboardPremi@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Thank you. The order of trials is 98 -> 2000 -> XP.

I will not be using Windows to connect to the internet; that function will be reserved for the Linux based OS, which I will be running in dual boot mode.

During my search for operating systems for older machines, I did come across NetBSD, but I am not sure if I am ready to give up my familiarity with Linux-based OSs.

Edit: Having said that, this seems like a good opportunity to try it out.