When comparing Windows XP vs Gallium OS, the Slant community recommends Gallium OS for most people. In the question“What is the best laptop OS?” Gallium OS is ranked 38th while Windows XP is ranked 40th. The most important reason people chose Gallium OS is:
Many things work out of the box that do not with other distros, such as touchscreens.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro No Bloatware
Unlike its next gen, this OS has no bloatware included.
Pro Fast
It loads very fast, recommended for older hardware.
Pro Chromebook hardware support baked in
Many things work out of the box that do not with other distros, such as touchscreens.
Pro Chromebook specific OS
Gallium OS is engineered with Chromebook hardware in mind to make the best use of Chromebook CPU's, limited RAM, and storage limitations.
Pro Easy to install
Using chrx on Chromebook there are only two or three straightforward steps to get Gallium OS running.
Pro Lightweight
Based on Xubuntu and requires a low hardware spec. Thus it supports almost all Chrome OS devices.
Pro Dual boot
Installation option to dual-boot GalliumOS alongside ChromeOS.
Pro Battery life
Efficient in using the battery.
Cons
Con Discontinued
Since April 8, 2014, support and updates for Windows XP are no longer available.
Con Absolutely absolete
It is just sort of a mozachism to use this os.
Con No software supported anymore(Almost)
Con Linux Zorin Lite is a much better alternative
Con Unsecure
Discontinued updates, after 8 years hacking it is a piece of cake.
Con Garbage, ancient, and slow
Con Not updated since 2019
Con Bad speaker support
Speaker support is often broken, either no sound or lots of noise/distortion.
Con Not the best looking UI
It's not the best in terms of UI but you can always install themes.
Con Too large
Too large to install on chromebook.
Con Uses Xfce
Not realy useful for touchscreen devices.
Con Firmware update
Required opening the back and removing the firmware write-protect screw and running a script.