I bought an old HP chromebook cheap on ebay that came with Zorin OS installed. It isn’t much, but just about manages to do what I need. The trouble is, Zorin seems kind of bloated and the Chromebook hasn’t got much memory. I don’t even have enough space to install updates.
I’m comfortable with running a pared-down OS that might be a better fit for a tired old Chromebook. What might work better than Zorin?


Yes. A lot. Using the usb C port all operations are about 4 to 8 times faster per Kdiskmark.
Unfortunately, carrying around the os attached to the usb is kind of a pain.