May I have a Linux recommendation for Macbook Air 2017?

[cycode]

Since the computer is old, I can't get much efficiency. I think it will be more efficient when I switch to Linux operating system. What is the most stable Linux operating system running on Macbook Air 2017?

I'd rather like a Linux distribution where I can use a trackpad. I'd love to hear comments from people running Linux on their old Macbook.

 

[wendy-lebaron]

Welcome to the forums.

How much RAM does your computer have? If 2GB or less you seriously have to consider buying an upgrade to 4GB in the very least. Because at least half the Linux OS's will ask for at least 4GB RAM. 1GB will not be good enough anymore, and 2GB will be enough for 32-bit but is not considered secure anymore for web browsing.

Otherwise try live distros for yourself. There are a few that look enough like MacOS, but don't be bought only by appearance. Make sure you are comfortable enough with it. Don't try one distro and then decide to install it to stay with it for life because "I don't want to waste my time". If you really don't have a lot of time, try three of them, in sessions of a few hours or what you can. Don't install anything unless you're absolutely sure and you're comfortable with it.

Ubuntu is top-heavy these days. It comes with a variety of desktop environments called "flavors". The distro just called "Ubuntu" comes with GNOME, which is less configurable than other desktops but offers an elegant, modern feel. It depends on years-long users of MacOS but it might be the best choice for them. The heavyweight alternative is KDE which could be made to look more like Windows. Both environments however, want a lot of memory and system resources. There are other desktop environments like LXQt and XFCE which could also look good and don't demand as much memory but might not be suited to your taste. If you really dig desktop animations you certainly would do well to get as much RAM as you can for your ageing personal computer.

Of course there are other distros around, but I only mentioned Ubuntu since it's the most popular one.

 

[cycode]

Welcome to the forums.

How much RAM does your computer have? If 2GB or less you seriously have to consider buying an upgrade to 4GB in the very least. Because at least half the Linux OS's will ask for at least 4GB RAM. 1GB will not be good enough anymore, and 2GB will be enough for 32-bit but is not considered secure anymore for web browsing.

Otherwise try live distros for yourself. There are a few that look enough like MacOS, but don't be bought only by appearance. Make sure you are comfortable enough with it. Don't try one distro and then decide to install it to stay with it for life because "I don't want to waste my time". If you really don't have a lot of time, try three of them, in sessions of a few hours or what you can. Don't install anything unless you're absolutely sure and you're comfortable with it.

Ubuntu is top-heavy these days. It comes with a variety of desktop environments called "flavors". The distro just called "Ubuntu" comes with GNOME, which is less configurable than other desktops but offers an elegant, modern feel. It depends on years-long users of MacOS but it might be the best choice for them. The heavyweight alternative is KDE which could be made to look more like Windows. Both environments however, want a lot of memory and system resources. There are other desktop environments like LXQt and XFCE which could also look good and don't demand as much memory but might not be suited to your taste. If you really dig desktop animations you certainly would do well to get as much RAM as you can for your ageing personal computer.

Of course there are other distros around, but I only mentioned Ubuntu since it's the most popular one.

Animation and design are the last things on my mind. I am a web developer, actively using macOS and Windows, and I also want to make my old computer run on Linux. I currently have 8 GB RAM and a 128 GB SSD on my computer. I'm looking for the most stable and reliable Linux operating system. I prefer it to be Debian-based. Since I work in the security field, I will occasionally need to use Kali tools. However, I don't want to use Kali Linux itself, I just need access to its tools from time to time.

 

[KGIII]

I'm looking for the most stable and reliable Linux operating system.

I'd recommend looking at Ubuntu or official Ubuntu flavors, with Ubuntu having up to 10 years of extended support free for five devices.

However, I don't want to use Kali Linux itself, I just need access to its tools from time to time.

You're already ahead of the pack. Good!

 

[cycode]

I'd recommend looking at Ubuntu or official Ubuntu flavors, with Ubuntu having up to 10 years of extended support free for five devices.



You're already ahead of the pack. Good!

I don't know how well Ubuntu performs on a MacBook Air 2017 model device. I have downloaded Deepin, EndeavourOS, and Ubuntu in that order. I will try them out one by one and test their performance. Additionally, if anyone has experience using Linux on a MacBook Air 2017 model and would like to provide insights, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[KGIII]

I don't know how well Ubuntu performs on a MacBook Air 2017 model device.

It should run just fine as it was before the M1 CPU architecture. You may need to add 'nomodeset' (search at your favorite search engine) to any Linux distro you go with.

 

[cycode]

It should run just fine as it was before the M1 CPU architecture. You may need to add 'nomodeset' (search at your favorite search engine) to any Linux distro you go with.

The intel processor is present because the computer is old.

 

[KGIII]

The intel processor is present because the computer is old.

Only by Mac/Windows/gamer standards. You can run any distro just fine.

 

[sphen]

I run macOS on a 2016 MacBook Pro (16 GB RAM, the max). One of the installed applications is VMware Fusion. VMware Fusion is a virtual machine application that lets me run Linux, Windows, Mac, and other operating systems concurrently with the Mac. The Mac desktop is my primary work environment, but most of the time I have a Linux desktop running in a virtual machine on the other screen. Sometimes I run multiple virtual machine desktops and servers in their own Mac "spaces" (desktop screens) as a virtual lab with a virtual network for learning, development, testing, etc. You mentioned Kali above.

For the Linux desktop, I ran Ubuntu for many years, but never liked the "Unity" interface design that came out about a decade ago. I stuck with it anyway, but switched to Linux Mint a few months ago and prefer it.

At this point, I am way behind on macOS, and plan to upgrade it to the latest supported version. I need to replace a bunch of applications that won't run on a newer macOS. Some will be paid upgrades, but many will be free software, and I want to choose applications that I know will run on Linux in the future when I give up on macOS. That's one of the reasons I am here on Linux.org.

Recently I have been trying out many different Linux distros in virtual machines to see if I want to stay with Linux Mint or can find something "better", whatever that means. In case you care, I have been trying Mint, Debian, MX, Manjaro, Fedora, Ubuntu (rejected), and some others that were quickly rejected. They represent a range of Linux families, default software packaging systems, and default and optional desktop environments.

I was reluctant to respond here earlier because I can run many operating systems in virtual machines where those operating systems cannot run natively on the Mac itself. I don't know which Linux distro to recommend that can run natively your MacBook Air with available drivers to interface well with its hardware chips and peripherals (network, graphics/display, sound, trackpad, etc.).

What I can say is that the latest Ubuntu seems to run slower in virtual machines on my Mac than other distros. It was especially noticeable when I tried the recent new Ubuntu Cinnamon flavor. I do not know why Ubuntu performance is not as good as other distros. I wonder whether it has anything to do with their Snaps packaging system? I decided to give up on Ubuntu for now, based on slower performance in virtual machines, the default desktop environment design that I dislike, and the way that Snaps has been deployed (imposed) on the market. All of them are subjective personal opinions.

I hope this description of my situation helps you.