So there are a few categories for linux distros. The smallest ones are DSL and puppy linux and the most popular are probably debian and ubuntu.
But what are the fastest distros? Are smaller ones faster? So is puppy linux and dsl probably also the fastest as well as the smallest?
And I noticed you can run ubuntu on a computer without installing it but can you do that with puppy linux, dsl and debian? Cause i want to try them to see if i like them but not install them. Also does anyone know if you can do that with windows 7? Cause i downloaded the beta but I dont want to install it over linux if I dont like it.

DSL and Slackware tend to run the fastest.

And you can usually do that with any OS, but it gets tedious with some. Some operating systems take hours to boot from a cd, and I imagine something as bloated as Windows 7 would take a while to start up.

Edit:

Also: Yggdrasil will fly on any machine under 15 years old. But good luck finding a download, there hasn't been a new release since '95.

Then DSL would prob be the best for what im looking for cause its also small.
But its kinda weird. Its not gnome is it? Cause you right click the desktop for the menu. Ill just download and it and run it off the live cd. And does it actually say D*** small or just DSL?

Slackware is also ridiculously tiny. The biggest difference is the interface. Slackware is either KDE or Gnome, and DSL is Fluxbox.

About damn small vs DSL, are you talking about the boot screen?

No, DSL doesn't use GNOME -- it uses the Fluxbox and JWM window managers, which exhibit the behavior you describe.

Actually, that raises a good point: it's kind of hard to characterize one distro as "faster" than another. All distros use the same kernel (the Linux kernel, dur), so when comparing performance, you're really just comparing the performance of the user-level software. Fluxbox and JWM are both more "lightweight" than GNOME, so systems running those will appear to have better performance -- but I can use Fluxbox on Ubuntu or Debian, too, and get the same performance boost.

Another point: I personally use Gentoo, which means I have to compile all the software I use; which means the software is tailored to run on my system (assuming I set the right compiler flags, which I do, obvi ); thus, my performance is likely equal to or superior to the default setups of most distros, even "small" ones like DSL.

Final point: "small" distros are tailored to run on older systems, or other resource-constrained systems. If you're pulling out hardware from 1998, DSL will likely run better "out of the box" than, say, Debian; but if you're dealing with new-ish hardware, you'll likely see very little difference. (And, of course, Debian can easily be tailored to run on old hardware just as well as DSL.)

O i see. So really ubuntu might be the same speed as DSL. Just DSL may be a little faster cause it uses flux. So I really dont see a need in using DSL over ubuntu or debian unless the computer has like 50mb of ram.
And I think id rather us ubuntu over gentoo because if gentoo isnt that much better than Id rather use ubuntu which is easier.
What has the least visual effects (making it faster) between ubuntu debian and other ditros like that?

The kernel runs the same speed, but the interface might lag behind a bit.
That doesn't make a lot of sense, but I can't think of any other way to explain it.

Anyway, you can turn visual effects on or off where needed.

Ya in ubuntu I i had to turn off effects.
I actually had to uninstall it for ubuntu to open. I think its cause of the video card it had.
So i guess now all thats left is to try out some distros.

Yeah, probably. What hardware are you using?

Video card wouldn't cause that. It would have to be either corrupted file, or the computer as a whole couldn't handle it.

If you want something a bit heavier than a lite distro get:
openSUSE
Ubuntu/Kubuntu/etc.
Mandriva

But if you're going with something light:
Slackware
Puppy
DSL

I posted them in order of my favorites, just to possibly make things easier for you.

An old desktop, 2ghx proccessor (but a bad one)
and upgraded to 500mb.
But I just want to know. Cause i think i might be getting a desktop and im gonne be lookin for a cheap netbook and since they dont have much ram etc i dont want vista on that so im researching the best distros for diff computers.

What processor is it? 2ghz usually isn't so bad.

I know. Its actually good. I dont know. but its old.