Looking for a Free, user-friendly OS

[hav0c]

I'm fixing up an old computer that is going to be sent to missionaries. It doesn't have a hard drive, so there is no OS on the computer. I have a old hard drive that I'm going to put in it but I don't have an OS for it. And I can't afford to buy windows for it. What are some suggestions for a free user friendly OS to go on this computer? I was looking at Linux, BeOS, and QNX. Its a slow computer (a P100, 16MB RAM) I was looking for an OS that won't respond too slow on an old system. Please give me some suggestions.

Oh and its primary use is going to be E-mail and Web surfing.

[Tomteriffic]

Boy, that looks like a natch for Win95. I'll bet somebody around here has an old copy they could mail ya. Wish I did.

^Bump for a good cause^

[Richard Cranium]

YGPM

[Theophylact]

MS DOS and Windows 3.11 should be fine for many purposes; you ought to be able to get legal copies of those for free from people who junked their old machines. Or an older version of Linux (2.0.x) will run on that machine just fine, especially if you don't gui it up too much. (Chances are you'll have to make a special floppy to start things up, because the BIOS on the machine is unlikely to support booting from a CD-ROM.) BeOS will require much more memory that you've got, and Windows 95, even if you have a free copy, will run very slowly with all but the simplest applications.

[Brainchild]

95 would run fine, just SLOOOWWW!
Ran 95 on a 486@66mhz with 16mb ram. very slow

[Redwolf]

Know what you mean Brainchild

QNX is supposedly a very good, small OS. I've only recently heard of it though, and haven't had any experience with it.

[skuz]

I remember a thread from the old site.

QNX was the OS' name as Redwolf said, search for it. No HD required.

[crouse]

Do you have any free ram slots??????
More ram will definately increase the usability of the computer... ...... what type does it have????? I have some 72 pin (2x8) (and plenty of it) if it will fit......... would donate to ya PM me if you can use it.....

[originel]

i would strongley recommend Linux, because it will run fine on that comp, and there are also a lot of us here at techimo that have experience with it and can help you get up and running if you need it, also you can get away from the evil that is windows. it will run MUCH faster than win95, almost the same as win3.11, and there are still programs written for it (finding progs for 3.11 would be really tough).

[originel]

oh and if you set it up right, it will be just as user friendly as windows, so no worries there. also they can get as many free progs as they want, can't do that in windows