Linux

[ppppenguin]

The answer is to try it and see. A Linux install is easier than WIndows (I've done Ubuntu a couple of times as an experiment) as there's no faffing around with activation. You're up and running in less than half an hour. If you can do word processing and browse the web at reasonable speed then you're winning. I suspect that your old PC will struggle with high res video and other intensive tasks, whatever the OS.