Which Linux?

[carl7]

Planning to install Linux on my 2003 Dell XP PC. Wondering which distro is preferred? 
l have played with Linux Redhat years ago but need to relearn. 
Thanks Carl

[rich2005]

There is no real 'preferred' linux distro for Gimp.

Best if you lay out the capabilities of the 2003 Dell.

Memory - you can get linux working in 256 MB but more is better.
Available drive space (especially if you want to keep WinXP)
The cpu might come into it as well. A bang up-to-date linux kernel might not work.
What is the video card and monitor resolution? Gimp is a bit cramped in an old 1280x768 display.

There are the ubuntu versions and spin-offs using light desktop environments (DE's) such as xubuntu.

A debian based linux good for old hardware is AntiX

Most these days can be downloaded as an ISO file and burned as a 'live' CD that you can try before installation. It is a good way to determine hardware problems.

edit: Ok this is my 2007 ThinkPad x61 2 GB memory and drive updated to a 120 GB SSD. 
Dual boots WinXP (needed for an equally old Hauppage video capture device) and xubuntu.
display is 1024x768

That Gimp is a 2.9.5 appimage (a portable application).
   

more edits:
All sorts of ways to set up linux. For a dual boot, if the free space is available it becomes largely automated with modern distros which will also find M$ and create a boot menu.

It might be of interest, this is the drive arrangement of that ThinkPad.

   

1. The WinXP partition, NTFS. I made it quite large for video capture but not a lot in there.

Unlike windows you can install linux in an extended partition which contains

2 and 3 The linux OS and home partition. Common these days to install as one but I am a bit of a traditionalist. 

missed 4 out but it is a swap file. If you are short on system memory you need one of these.

5. A NTFS partition for data. (mainly video) While linux can read/write NTFS, Win needs a utility just to read linux ext2/3/maybe ext4.  So NTFS (or FAT32) is the lowest common denominator for sharing.

Nothing hard and fast, there are other arrangements.

[david]

I am very much a novice, but I have been using Ubuntu for 4 or 5 years, even on my antique Dell Latitude D430 laptop (small, rugged and convenient when travelling). I have just got a new 64 bit computer and have installed Ubuntu on that. I find it very stable compared to the many versions of Windows I used previously. I tried a couple of the lighter desktop versions, but found no significant advantage, so went for the full version.

david.

[carl7]

Hi Rich, David,  and thanks. I think I'll replace WinXP entirely since I have the original install disk. I tried Ubuntu when it first came out
, a long time ago.
My old Dell is: Pent 4, 55gb hd, about 30gb free, 2gb ram, service pack 3.
Carl

[Harry]

I'm very happy with Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64-bit running on several old boxes, Lenovo, and newer Dell. Rock solid. 
Ubuntu flaky on the Lenovo T61.

[crazyBaboon]

I have been using Arch and Fedora recently. Arch has the advantage that is easy to install the lastest GIMP from Git via the AUR repository.

[Kal.El]

I use linux Mint https://www.linuxmint.com/