The machine I am writing this on is a single-core Pentium 4 2ghz running WATTOS R6 LTS.
I also have a dual core machine plugged into the TV for watching downloaded films etc.
As time goes by I'm noticing how even the dual core machine seems sluggish on some web pages.
The single core machine is of course worse, often struggling when scrolling in EBAY, for example, and
when copying files around. I no longer bother to keep it up-to-date because updates take so long and are so heavy on the CPU.
I have a couple of old P3 machines which are still useable for office/playing audio/forum-ing (at a pinch) but I've not had them plugged in for ages. They really can't cope any longer - I think it's as
much to do with the graphics chip as the CPU. Then again, my technical knowledge is very limited.
For that reason, while I like to use Linux to resurrect old machines that can't handle Winbloat
I need the security of an LTS if I am to give the machine to someone else with even less
technical knowledge than myself. Plus there is sometimes an advantage in having current software: e.g. I found, during the Adobe flashplayer virus fiasco, that the version of GNASH
in 14.04 actually worked (after a fashion) whereas the version in 12.04 did not work at all.
A year or two ago, looking on EBAY, most of the bargain basement machines were single core - now
there is little demand for them because there are so many secondhand dual-core machines for sale.
From my point-of-view single core P4's are only borderline usable (the CPU &/or graphics chip may be too slow for the proposed usage)
P3's are antiques - but there are plenty of antiques lovers out there, so each to his own
