Free 32 bit Linux OS?

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

I want to revive a couple of older 32 bit Dell laptops that are laying around, and Windblows is out of the question. So which Linux OS's drive like Windblows, and are free? Both these Dells have Winblows 7 on them, and that's pretty useless. I just want to revive them with something useful, and give them to the neighbor kids to learn about computers. BTW, Ubuntu abandoned their 32 bit OS... So that can't be downloaded any more.
Thanks!
Mark

[Stefan Scholz]

I've always liked the Linux Mint distributions. Check, if they they still offer 32 bit.

[Thomas Piccione]

There is a version of Linux Mint based of Debian, LDME 6, which still supports 32 bit machines.

[Ryan Gallagher]

I was gonna suggest mint too but just read 32bit support is ENDED with v20.

might have to stick to major distros that have the community to keep 32bit releases going. Debian (Raspian is an Arm Debian variant). GUI for kids will be the more important choice.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Thanks everyone... I will probably look for Mint Ver 20. Actually, Ubuntu also still has every version of their OS available. But I will check out Mint first...

[Marcel Birgelen]

If you're familiar with Ubuntu and Mint, you should also be familiar with Debian, as both systems have their origin in Debian. The last version with full 32-bit support is Version 12 (Bookworm), which is supported until June 30 2028. I guess after that date, may be a good date to retire your 32 bit oldies.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Am giving these laptops to the kids that live next door. If they last them another 6 months or a year, then good.

[Tj Hopland]

The Raspberry Pi folks still have a 32 bit x86 version of their Debian based OS on their site. Probably a great fit for this application. Comes with Chromium and a browser is likely going to be the most used app in this case but also has LibreOffice and VLC media player. Doesn't seem to be a direct link so you have to scroll to the bottom of the page.

https://www.raspberrypi.com/software/operating-systems/

[Josh Jones]

I'll cast another vote for Mint. It's my daily driver.

[Caleb Williams]

Debian 13 is out now, and it is fantastic so far. Gnome got a much-needed re-work. However, in true linux fashion, you can still choose whatever desktop manager you'd like