MB 1,1-7,1 White Polycarbonate MacBook, best OS?

[Oldmopars]

I have a really nice, old, White Polycarbonate MacBook. It is a Core2 Duo 2.4. I upgraded to an SSD, maxed out the RAM and done a basic clean/restoration to it. I also did new thermal Paste and a new battery.
So far, I have tried Lion, Snow Leopard and I am now installing PearOS. However, I am not sure Pear is going to work either.
So, I do completely understand that this is an old laptop. I don't use it for anything other than basic tasks. E-mail, Facebook, web surfing, etc.
So far, this thing has been painfully slow. I have tried a couple of different Browsers because Safari is outdated and won't work.
I have plenty of other computers including a MacBook Pro M2 MAX. I just really like this one due to its great all white look, its clean lines and overall smooth feel. I enjoy using it. Is there an OS that you would recommend that would give it a more snappy feel for basic everyday tasks? I really hate to just put it on the shelf as a display alongside my TRS-80, Atari 400, C64 and Apple iie.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I have the same model and it dual boots Snow Leopard and Windows 8.1 - I don't percieve any performance issues?
For Snow Leopard you can browse with InterWeb and PowerFox.

 

[Oldmopars]

I have the same model and it dual boots Snow Leopard and Windows 8.1 - I don't percieve any performance issues?
For Snow Leopard you can browse with InterWeb and PowerFox.

Snow Leopard was not too bad, but I ran into a bunch of issues with compatibility, even using InterWeb. So, I tried PearOS, that is a NoGo. It was so bad the mouse pointer jumped around the screen always way behind.
So, I just installed Mint XFCE. While I liked the PearOS interface, Mint is fine and I know I have a lot of options to change it. So far it seems good. It is really snappy like I wanted, FireFox works as it should, no issues. I think I will try this for a while and see, but so far so good.

 

[JulianStaples]

Sequoia, obviously. 😎

But on a less silly note, I assume you mean the older pre-2008 polycarbonate MB. I tried a bunch of Linux distros on one of those last year and ended up quad-booting Mint XFCE, PeppermintOS, MX Fluxbox and Bodhi. All ran perfectly well for basic browsing/streaming/etc. Mint lagged the most, being the heaviest of the four, and Bodhi was the lightest and zippiest but maybe a bit too bare bones. Peppermint and MX both felt like a good compromise between the two. 🙂

Worth noting as well that all of this was on a 1TB HDD (because I couldn't be bothered buying a similar capacity SSD for a MacBook I picked up for £30). On an SSD they'd all run buttery smooth I'm sure. ☺️

 

[Oldmopars]

Sequoia, obviously. 😎
View attachment 2613217

But on a less silly note, I assume you mean the older pre-2008 polycarbonate MB. I tried a bunch of Linux distros on one of those last year and ended up quad-booting Mint XFCE, PeppermintOS, MX Fluxbox and Bodhi. All ran perfectly well for basic browsing/streaming/etc. Mint lagged the most, being the heaviest of the four, and Bodhi was the lightest and zippiest but maybe a bit too bare bones. Peppermint and MX both felt like a good compromise between the two. 🙂

Worth noting as well that all of this was on a 1TB HDD (because I couldn't be bothered buying a similar capacity SSD for a MacBook I picked up for £30). On an SSD they'd all run buttery smooth I'm sure. ☺️

I know these were never the most powerful computers, and the Core2 Duo is far from the best even back in the day. But, there is just something pleasing about the White MBP. So clean and simple in design.
I don't need it, I have 3 other lap tops and I have no idea how many other desk tops I can use. But when I sit in my chair at night and just want to surf the net, send an e-mail, or anything that requires a keyboard, this is the one I want to use. I use my iPad a lot too, but no keyboard limits it to YouTube and web surfing.
I really wanted PearOS to work, but the poor thing just can't hack it. Pear looks just like Tahoe right down to the icons, menus and liquid glass. Very cool, maybe on my cMP 5,1.
I will look into PeppermintOS, MX Fluxbox and Bodhi. I'm using XFCE now and I have tried ElementOS, but it needs a bit of work.

 

[JulianStaples]

I know these were never the most powerful computers, and the Core2 Duo is far from the best even back in the day. But, there is just something pleasing about the White MBP. So clean and simple in design.
I don't need it, I have 3 other lap tops and I have no idea how many other desk tops I can use. But when I sit in my chair at night and just want to surf the net, send an e-mail, or anything that requires a keyboard, this is the one I want to use. I use my iPad a lot too, but no keyboard limits it to YouTube and web surfing.

I get that completely. I have an M1 MBP and an iPad Pro sitting on my desk, but the device I've used the most for random browsing in front of the TV recently is a 2009 plastic MacBook I picked up off eBay for £10, cleaned and fixed up, and dual-booted with Mavericks and Lubuntu. 🥰

 

[Michael Maddan]

My MacBook7,1 / 2.4Ghz / is currently running Mint 22.3, and seems OK. Sorry to admit that I cannot recall the non-Apple laptop that I initially installed Mint on, but I'm thinking it was an HP 6560b, and that I either used an Ebay DVD for an earlier Mint, or that I downloaded Mint from the official site...in either case, all I had to do was remove the HDD from the HP and drop it into the Apple, and that was that: a happy MacBook, running Mint.

The point here is that the Apple seems OK with the current version of Mint, and that folks here will almost certainly use a method that I did not to put 22.3 on their machine(s). Note, that there may be some features that do not work, it's simply that, at this point, I can go online, access my Gmail, receive Mint updates, etc, and this seems very nice to me!

 

[Oldmopars]

My MacBook7,1 / 2.4Ghz / is currently running Mint 22.3, and seems OK. Sorry to admit that I cannot recall the non-Apple laptop that I initially installed Mint on, but I'm thinking it was an HP 6560b, and that I either used an Ebay DVD for an earlier Mint, or that I downloaded Mint from the official site...in either case, all I had to do was remove the HDD from the HP and drop it into the Apple, and that was that: a happy MacBook, running Mint.

The point here is that the Apple seems OK with the current version of Mint, and that folks here will almost certainly use a method that I did not to put 22.3 on their machine(s). Note, that there may be some features that do not work, it's simply that, at this point, I can go online, access my Gmail, receive Mint updates, etc, and this seems very nice to me!

Thanks. I installed Mint on it a couple of weeks ago, and yes it seems just fine. Lately Mint has been my goto for anything older. I have tried other Linux Distros, but each one seems to require extra fiddling around to make it work right. I love the look of PearOS, because it is an almost perfect clone of Tahoe, but I have had trouble with it due to the requirements. ElementaryOS is the same thing, looks good, but need extra work to make function. Mist is by far the easiest Linux Distro to use for a "It just works" install. I know power users or people more experienced than I am will have their favorites and have complaints about mint. But, if you want to get to know the Linux operating system with a low barrier to entry, Mint is a good place to start.
I have 6-8 computers all running Mint right now. I also do some side work for a local thrift shop. They send me a stack of laptops and I go through and clean them up, whip the drives and depending on the system, they either get Mint or Windows 11. I tried PearOS on my Mac Pro, but I may just go back to Mint.

 

[Michael Maddan]

From what I'm reading here and my own experiences, it really does seem as if there's a growing appreciation for these A1342 MacBooks...not only do they look good, but they're still entirely capable of doing many of the things that folks do, everyday, online, and doing them very well. Just ponder the reality of a Circa 2010 Apple running the current version of Linux Mint 22.3, and see if it's not Amazing!

The Intel Core 2 Duo was about 'Perfect', and those of us non-professionals using ( the many ) computers that have them, might wonder why folks felt the need for anything more.

 

[DouglasCarroll]

I have a really nice, old, White Polycarbonate MacBook. It is a Core2 Duo 2.4. I upgraded to an SSD, maxed out the RAM and done a basic clean/restoration to it. I also did new thermal Paste and a new battery.
So far, I have tried Lion, Snow Leopard and I am now installing PearOS. However, I am not sure Pear is going to work either.
So, I do completely understand that this is an old laptop. I don't use it for anything other than basic tasks. E-mail, Facebook, web surfing, etc.
So far, this thing has been painfully slow. I have tried a couple of different Browsers because Safari is outdated and won't work.
I have plenty of other computers including a MacBook Pro M2 MAX. I just really like this one due to its great all white look, its clean lines and overall smooth feel. I enjoy using it. Is there an OS that you would recommend that would give it a more snappy feel for basic everyday tasks? I really hate to just put it on the shelf as a display alongside my TRS-80, Atari 400, C64 and Apple iie.

I run Lion no issue whatsoever on my 2008 White Macbook and it’s great.

My 2 cents.

😁