How I gave my old laptop new life with the Linux Xfce desktop

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While I installed Linux to use my laptop for a few demos at a conference, I found Linux and the Xfce desktop made this old laptop feel quite snappy.

A few weeks ago, I needed to give a conference presentation that included a brief demonstration of a small app I’d written for Linux. I needed a Linux laptop to bring to the conference, so I dug out an old laptop and installed Linux on it. I used the Fedora 36 Xfce spin, which worked great.

The laptop I used was purchased in 2012. The 1.70 GHz CPU, 4 GB memory, and 128 GB drive may seem small compared to my current desktop machine, but Linux and the Xfce desktop gave this old machine new life.

Xfce desktop for Linux
The Xfce desktop is a lightweight desktop that provides a sleek, modern look …