What about just adding some more ram.
I would do that before going with another OS.

Well, for one reason, that is very little ram to begin with. So, adding
ram is a very smart thing. And if you do go to the other OS, it would
make it even faster.

Yes, but the OS is free. RAM for that puppy probably isn't that cheap.

i hear you -- i just wanna get the most outta this ole thing -- til,
i decide to replace it

IF you dont want to invest on the old machine then i suggest you to go to
xubuntu. Xubuntu is almost like ubuntu but i was much more used to ubuntu
that i didnt like it... One thing Xfce it is a lot faster than gnome. The
default programs are also different.

I would agree with Ashes.

For using a modern distro on old
hardware (or low RAM computers) then you should
be thinking "light" in terms of your desktop
environment. KDE and GNOME are just too
resource-hungry for the older machines to keep up...

You can take Xubuntu and make the computer
even faster by using a lightweight
window manager - you can use synaptic to install
icewm. Icewm is not everyones favorite, but
most agree it is fast and fairly easy to make
your own customized toolbar, menu, etc.
It just requires the editing of some text files,
knowing where to find the icons (usually /usr/share/pixmaps/
or /usr/share/icons/ ) and the linux command
to execute the program.

So with that, I'm running Xubuntu Gutsy on a
DELL Latitude D600 and icewm is my window manager,
with Thunar as my file manager. I'm pleased
overall that I have the 'choice' of what to mix and match.

You might try something like DSL (Damn small linux)
I've seen it here on our PC-104 system which is very similarly
capable, and it's nice.

i'll check that one out, too...

i burned an xubuntu iso this morning.

Another Linux option you might consider is Puppy
Linux. It's an 80-100M
download and is quite powerful and fast. As such, it
is particularly good
on older, less powerful machines. Version 3.01 is the
latest. Go to the
Puppy Download Page, click the 'alternate HTTP URL'
and select
'puppy-3.01-seamonkey.iso'. Also on the Puppy
Download Page is a link to
'BurnCDCC" which is a dedicated ISO to CD burner. Try
it, I think you'll
like it.

Before you blow away Ubuntu or spend money on RAM, I would disable
uneccessary services. By default, Ubuntu installs many unneeded services &
modules; bluetooth, raid, ipv6, ppp & .... Anything you can turn off will
save RAM memory.

The utility "sysv-rc-conf" and "Bootup Manager (BUM)" can help!

This thread discusses the services in detail.
<http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=89491>

Some services you may have to blacklist.

I have a Dell PII-266Mhz Laptop with 144Mhz of ram running Xubuntu and
using about 40MB of ram at idle.

I also have a Dell CPx Pentium III 500 Mhz w/256MB of Ram running Ubuntu
and at idle using about 110MB or RAM.

On these older machines with 256MB or less of RAM, the swap file should be
set to 2 times the total RAM installed.

Also install prelink to speed up the loading of many applications.