Android as primary OS on old PC?

[CommanderLiamTHX]

Hi, I know someone with an old computer with a Pentium and a gigabyte of RAM, that needs to do basic work like emailing and reading news things. I know about Android-x86, and I have used it in an emulator, but I remember you had to turn off mouse integration to get the mouse to work and the Wi-Fi wasn't supported. Would it be a good idea to put Android on an old PC? It's a desktop, so WiFi shouldn't be an issue, but I was wondering about ethernet.

 

[carnageX]

Unless its a super old ethernet chipset or one that's weird, it should be included in the linux kernel already. It's currently on a 4.4 RC, so you could try it against and see if it works any better now that they're on higher Android revision.

 

[Jayce]

This is just my opinion... but last I used Android on a laptop it sent me into a near homicidal rage. It's amazing how anti-computer Android looks and feels when it's on an actual computer. It feels far more at home with a handheld touch device.

Personally I'd explore the avenue of a lightweight Linux distro that's pretty simple for those tasks. Elementary OS is a good contender if you want something that's simple to use and simple to maintain without any bells and whistles, but also doesn't look like it was built in the 1980's era like some other lightweight Linux distros.