We tried the Xfce edition, which comes with Xfce version 4.18. Manjaro uses the Calamares cross-distro installer, so it's easy to install – but the ThinkPad's small 1366 x 768 LCD meant that on ...

If you have an old laptop lying around, use these lightweight operating systems to have it running buttery smooth again.

The three Manjaro variants come with different desktop interfaces: Xfce 4.20, KDE Plasma 6.3 and Gnome 48. All three start a graphical live system with the Calamares installation wizard.

I settled upon Manjaro as a good blend of up-to-date and fast, yet usable by mere mortals. It’s Arch but for cowards, and trying it on a few older machines it’s been a painless experience.