Newbie query

[The Old Curmudgeon]

Ok, it's time. Which distro will install/work best in a Dell Inspiron E1405? Machine has 60GB HDD and 1GB RAM. I've never used any Linux OS before, but in preparation for my foray into the land of Linux, I've wiped the HDD and tried loading Zorin 9 Core. Installation went fine until it failed to recognize the wireless.
So now I'm wondering if there's a particular flavor that would better suit my old machine. I'm determined to make the break from "Uncle Bill"s system and stay with Linux. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

The Old Curmudgeon

 

[atanere]

There really is no "works best" answer for you. The best distro will be the one you find that you like the best, and the one that you will continue to use. You may try 2 or 3, or you may try a dozen or more. They are all similar, yet they are all different.

I'm surprised that Zorin didn't find your wireless though. That's disappointing. Most of the Ubuntu-derived distros are pretty good at hardware detection. You might give them another try, with Ubuntu itself, or maybe LXLE, or Linux Mint. Or you may want to try something along other lines, like Fedora or openSUSE.

Your hard drive and RAM sounds like it is a little bit of an older machine, so maybe you won't have to fight the UEFI battle (UEFI replaced BIOS in newer computers). The hard drive space will be enough, and probably the RAM too, but everything seems to be RAM hungry these days. Some distros specialize in lower hardware requirements (like LXLE) but you still need to find one that activates your wireless, or else see what kind of wifi adaptor you have and try to get a driver and get it to work manually.

If you still have Zorin installed, you can open an terminal and try the command "lspci" (without quotes) and it will probably tell you what kind of wifi adaptor you have.

Remember: part of the fun is the journey. Enjoy! And welcome to the Linux Community!

Cheers!