I prefer Linux Mint (Cinnamon) over Ubuntu. The desktop layout of Mint is very similar to Windows XP, whereas Ubuntu is quite different, so for new users Mint is the best move, in my opinion.
But not sure the mainstream Linux distros will run on something that's 13 years old though.
There are minimal distros aimed at old machines.
I use a Acer Travelmate notebook which is from around 2005 and was issued with Windows XP. This is why I used Xubuntu for a light desktop, the Acer has no problems running it.
I don't use it for anything graphically demanding, it is usually on my workbench where I use Arduino tools to compile and load programs into Arduino boards.
But your point is valid, you do need to match your Linux system to the hardware, and if it's 32bit some distributions don't even build an installer for it any more. The most important choice is which desktop manager and window management system you install; full on KDE is great if you have a powerful graphics card, but for old hardware I usually use XFCE4, my current favorite desktop, tho I have been quite happy with some of the newer alternatives available now.
I remembered that I also need to use TeamViewer for logging into a remote machine, but I see that they offer a Linux version so that shouldn' be a problem.
I'm going to try a LiveCD of Ubuntu and Mint on my old PC and see how they work, but I might end up buying an ex-lease PC just so I have some more up-to-date hardware.
Well I tried Linux Mint (Cinnamon) via a LiveCD on my old PC and I'm very impressed. I actually got the specs for my old PC wrong, it only has 2GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive (half full) and an AMD Athlon 64 X2 processor.
It didn't detect the WiFi dongle I've got plugged into the PC, but a little research says that this can be a difficult one to get working under Linux and I'm probably better off just buying a new one that's compatible. Because of this I wasn't able to test web browser experience, but I've got a long network cable that might just reach from the office to where the router is, so I'll try that before I decide what to do next.
All in all I'm very impressed with Linux Mint, I think it will suit me well.
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