Someone ran a modern Linux OS on a 30-year-old CPU, and it's surprisingly usable

Published Nov 14, 2025

Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech.

Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such asWorldStart,Listverse, andMakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home atMakeUseOf in February 2019, he has been working with it and its sister website, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, artificial intelligence, and cybersecurity topics.

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Summary

Tiny Core Linux 16.2 (23MB) runs on a 1994 Pentium 75 — modern distro on ancient hardware.
Upgraded RAM to 128MB since Tiny Core runs in RAM; original machine had just 8MB.
Booted Tiny Core from floppy with Plop Boot Manager; usable, internet and neofetch proved it.

Everyone knows that if you want a lightweight operating system, you go with Linux. But just how low can you go with the system specs? Could you, for instance, take Linux and run it on a Pentium 1? And not just any build of Linux, mind you; we're talking about a modern-day one.

Well, it turns out, you can do just that. It's not exactly easy, and it's not exactly quick, but itcan be done. And that's a win if you ask me.

Someone got Tiny Core Linux running on a CPU from 1994

As spotted by Hackster.io, this amazing trick was demonstrated by Action Retro in one of their latest YouTube videos. The goal was to get a modern-day Linux distribution running on a 133MHz CPU called the Pentium 75, which released back in 1994. Do note that it's 133Megahertz, not those fancy Gigahertz that we use these days.

So, which modern-day distro is up for the task of running on such a teeny-tiny CPU? Well, the obvious choice for Action Retro wasTiny Core Linux, which, at the time of writing, only takes up 23MB of space. Not only is it light on the storage, but it's also designed to run on pretty much anything, which is proven true in the video a little later. And yes, they're using version 16.2, which is the latest release right now.

The thing is, Tiny Core runs by taking everything the users requests, sticking it on the RAM, and running it all from there. The machine Action Retro used only had 8MB of RAM (yes, megabytes, this is 1994, remember), so they upgraded the computer to a whopping 128MB of RAM so it could comfortably store everything they'd need.

Now that's sorted, it was time to actually get Tiny Core on this system. The good news is that the computer Action Retro was using did come with a CD-ROM drive; very modern. The bad news is that the PC didn't really like reading CD-ROMs. So, Action Retro did what anyone would have done in this situation: squeeze Tiny Core onto a floppy disk usingPlop Boot Manager and run it that way. And run it did.

I must admit, I was shocked when I saw Tiny Core Linux running on this ancient PC. Yes, it's not lightning fast, and stuff takes a little time to load on it. However, it is absolutely usable. To prove it, Action Retro successfully got the machine onto the internet, grabbed neofetch, and showed off the system specifications with it. Stunning stuff.