Turbo-charged machines with wattOS

Watt am I?

Out of the box, there is very little that wattOS or its smaller Microwatt companion can do. As a user, it is down to you to decide which applications to add, which will commence on startup, and how your power-saver settings will be managed. Advanced power users may be delighted about this given that they can finally customize their Linux OS according to their whims.

Newcomers to Linux may find this distribution is not to their taste unless they are willing to become very well acquainted with the Synaptic package manager and/or the command line. In particular, navigating the i3 window manager in Microwatt can be tricky for those who are not Linux veterans. Certain applications do not play well together, so it may take some time before you can shape a system entirely to your taste.

Remember that both wattOS and MicroWatt support Ubuntu's "live" mode, to allow you to test run your configuration of choice. If you do try to install extra programs, however, bear in mind the CD-ROM will load into your RAM memory, so you'll be limited by the available space there. Performance will also not be as fast as when the OS is installed to your hard drive.

Overall, WattOS is by no means the only lightweight Ubuntu-based distro out there. However, the small ISOs, fast loading times, and high degree of customization make it a strong contender. The thought of dusting off the old PC in the attic and giving it a new lease on life is also very exciting. PlanetWatt maintains that wattOS will run on machines up to 10 years old. Should you decided to experiment with the OS on an old and/or low-spec PC, make sure to post in the wattOS forums with details of your configuration.