One of the best things about Linux is that you can get much more performance out of the same computer than with other operating systems. However, there always is room for improvement, and you should be able to get a bit more speed out of your box by implementing some specific enhancements.

Don't expect miracles, however. No amount of tweaking can turn a Pentium II into a Quad Core monster (remember the old saying about silk purses and sow's ears?), but you can expect to get a more responsive machine that 'handles' better. Although some of the changes are internal and hard to see, you will find that your system feels livelier, your clicks produce answers faster, you can switch between applications more quickly and programs run in less time.

Let's be practical. If you get a better CPU, there's probably nothing in this article that will match your results, and the same goes for a better graphics card
or speedier disks. But, you expected that, didn't you? (Making such hardware upgrades would benefit not only Linux, but also every other operating system out there.) However, making such changes is practically equivalent to getting a whole new machine, so you wouldn't be really enhancing the performance of your old box, but starting anew.

That said, this article discusses configuration changes with the aim of leaving everything (well, almost everything) as it 'f'as, while making it perform better. Of course, these changes aren't all equal; some are more difficult (and riskier), some require rebooting or other procedures, and some even require delving into the command line and editing configuration files. But, don't give up. The results are worth it.

As a final note, I use openS USE (version 10.3) and KDE for the examples in this article. If you are using other distributions or desktop environments, you will
find small differences in file locations or procedures. Currently, because most distributions offer exactly the same packages and drivers, one of the largest remaining differences between them is precisely in the configuration tools, so you may need to do some searching on your own. In any case, it's a safe bet you will find a way to manage anything described here, only in a different way.