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Re: Apps for low resource laptop
de nueoff 05/08/2006 11:36
Mark Warner wrote:
> I will be (re)configuring a PI-150MHz/32MB laptop for use on the road.
> This will only be used occasionally for Internet access and email, and
> for very basic word processing and spreadsheets. The user isn't
> clueless, but he's not all that security conscious, either.
>
> I've done this once already this weekend, neutering IE and removing OE,
> installing AVG, ZAF v4.5.594, WinZip 8, Foxit Reader, Irfanview, Firefox
> & Thunderbird, and an old version of the 602Pro office suite. This
> configuration is just too much for the old beater to handle. In
> particular, it just barely will load and open Firefox and Thunderbird.
> In too many instances, they won't load up at all.
>
> I plan on wiping and reconfiguring, this time using 98lite
> [http://www.litepc.com/download.html] to strip out IE and some of the
> other Windows fluff. I'm looking for suggestions for replacement apps
> for the browser and email clients, and possibly for AVG (Anti-Vir,
> maybe?). The browser and email client need to be as similar to
> IE/Firefox and OE/TBird as possible. A standalone spreadsheet that I
> could pair with Wordpad (or maybe AbiWord) would be sweet. I've got the
> installer for ZAF v3.7.211 that should cover the firewall concerns.
>
> Bottom line -- I will sacrifice optimal security for a small footprint
> and low resource usage. This notebook won't carry mission critical
> information; it will be more of a communications appliance for a young
> co-worker that has to work trade shows a half dozen times a year.
>
> Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.
>
> --
> Mark Warner
> lose .inhibitions when replying
I would suggest using Opera instead of Firefox, and using webmail
instead of a software-based email client. The better free email
services such as Gmail and Yahoo include virus screening, so anti-virus
software shouldn't be necessary in this situation. You can also find
free web-based word processing and spreadsheet functions.