OS Choices Indeed (for most!)
I myself am currently engaging in a pseudo-scientific self-study on optimizing some very low-end PCs with Linux.
Hardware that I obtained for negligible cost
Pentium I MMX 200MHz
64MB 60ns EDO RAM
1 x 1GB hd, 1 x 2GB hdd
The pre-existing MS-Windows 98(FE) is still required for a minimal number of applications….. boo/hiss 
Pentium I MMX 200MHz
160MB 60ns EDO RAM
1 x 8GB hd
The pre-existing MS-Windows ME is still required for a minimal number of applications….. boo/hiss
Pentium III 500MHz Celeron
256MB PC100 SDRAM
1 x 10GB hd
Pre-existing MS-Windows 2000 wiped clean off after BIOS updated — yay 
Pentium III 600MHz-E (Energy-saving)
256MB PC100 SDRAM
1 x 10GB hd
Pre-existing MS-Windows 2000 wiped clean off after BIOS updated — yay
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Routine questions I did ask and still ask myself on these:
- Do these low-end PCs power on, boot up and otherwise function at operable base-levels (motherboard, BIOS, CMOS, RAM… etc.) ???
- Are BIOS revisions as up-to-date as possible for these old PC’s ??
- What purpose can these low-end PC’s be BEST used for (e.g., “starter” office productivity workstations, simple multimedia workstations, router/firewall appliances, … etc.) ???
No DVD or USB-booting, no wireless setup, no CD-burning capabilities
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My own groundrules RE: distros used
NO K/Ubuntu 9.10 “Karmic Koala” Linux, NO Fedora 11 Linux, NO OpenSUSE 11.x Linux, NO Mandriva 2009.x Linux
YES lightweight ("low altitude") CD-R and floppy installable Linux distros having minimalistic X-Windows
——————————————————
Distros used
1. Limited to the Pentium I MMX's
Basic Linux 3.50; ftp://ibiblio.org/pub/linux/distributions/baslinux/index.html
Damn Small Linux (DSL); http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=damnsmall and http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/
Specific DSL versions to use:
- DSL 3.4.12 Syslinux
- DSL 4.4.10 Syslinux
Puppy Linux 4.3.1; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=puppy and http://www.puppylinux.com/
TinyMe 2010 i586 RC 1; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=tinyme and http://www.tinymelinux.com/
2. For the Pentium III's
Debian GNU/Linux stable, a.k.a. "lenny", 5.0.4 XFCE+LXDE; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=debian and http://www.debian.org/
Debian GNU/Linux testing, a.k.a. "squeeze", 5.0.x XFCE+LXDE; http://www.debian.org/News/2009/20090730 and http://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/weekly-builds/i386/iso-cd/ (the latter is the weekly-generated download site)
MEPIS's AntiX-M8.x; http://linux.wikia.com/wiki/AntiX and http://antix.mepis.org/
Slackware Linux 13.0; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=slackware and http://www.slackware.com/
Vector Linux Light 6.0; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=vector and http://www.vectorlinux.com/
Absolute Linux 13.1; http://distrowatch.com/index.php?distribution=absolute and http://www.absolutelinux.org/
3. Used solely as testing LiveCD’s, and for distro-downloading/CD-burning (latter on another PC) :
System Rescue CD 1.5.x; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=systemrescue and http://www.sysresccd.org/Tiny Core Linux 2.10; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=tinycore and http://www.tinycorelinux.com/
Knoppix EN[glish] 6.2CD; http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=05783
and http://www.knoppix.com/
4. Used as low-spec routers/firewalls :
FREESCO 0.4.2; http://www.freesco.info/index.php
floppyfw 3.0.*; http://www.zelow.no/floppyfw/
IPCop 1.4.21; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=IPCop and http://www.ipcop.org/
Devil Linux 1.4.x i486; http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=Devil and http://www.devil-linux.org
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I’ve done all the ISO/img downloads and burning, and am about two-thirds finished performing Linux installs on all four low-end PCs.
I absolutely HAD TO --- and not the last distro in 2 
Results of this pseudo-scientific study soon to follow — maybe sometime around the impending release date of Ubuntu 10.04 (a.k.a. "Lucid Lynx") ????
-Aaron / GoOSSBears
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