Operating systems - using Linux IV.

I own an older notebook HP (Celeron 650MHz, 384MB, HDD 10GB) with preinstalled Windows 98, later I installed Windows XP on it. The computer was very fast with Windows 98, I cound work with it at time of the Windows XP configuration - office use and a little bit of development. But. Time went and new versions of ofice and development tools came and notebook was slower and slower. So what to do with such a device? I have purchased new notebook for my work, mainly application development, and planned to use the old one for testing. I tossed aside a thought about new versions of Microsoft's OSs or development tools immediately. So I grabbed Linux, also because I like open source software.
I began with Gentoo, but unsuccessfully, see my blog. Then I used Ubuntu Linux and installed it instantly. It is very usable system, also my wife can work with it without my assistence. So the usability of Ubuntu is the same as of MS Windows, because she previously worked only with Windows systems and she is mere user of personal computers and no PC professional. Probably she don't know how to install Linux, but it is the same as Windows installation. It is my job at home. And on the other hand I can't make beefsteak as good as she. (Note for feminists: maintenance of home PC is the part of housekeeping as cooking or laundering - from my point of view.)