I have an x61 myself, bought it last year to add to my Thinkpad collection. I haven't done much besides put in some real to verify it actually works. And suggestions on an OS?
antiX linux v26 might be of interest. I have the 32 bit version with the older Linux kernel (5.18.x I recollect) on a live usb. No mysterious graphics freezes.
The more straight forward (and 64 bit) candidate would be Slackware 15.0 with a few of Alien Bob's slackbuilds.
But, of course, the retro computing approach mentioned by another poster would look really nice and be a conversation piece.
most linux/bsd you can throw at it would just work fine. i personally like tinycore linux and porteus linux, they unpack the rootfs to ram so overall interaction with the system feels insanely quick on very underpowered systems with HDDs.
It's also quite nice w/ a stylus, and Win2K was absolutely my favourite OS despite lacking explicit stylus support (as Windows XP Tablet PC Edition had) --- just need a 3rd party note-taking tool w/ stylus support and HWR.
I never got into HWR. I already type faster than I write with a pen. Waiting for it to convert my scribbles to text, even if it gets it right first time, is just a painfully slow process even on an ipad pro. I'd rather just use a touchscreen keyboard to write
It's nice for when one wants to slow down and think, or if one needs to take notes --- back when I was in college, while professors would often object to laptops, no one complained of my using a tablet and stylus --- also allowed for sketches/diagrams which I found helpful/useful.
The more straight forward (and 64 bit) candidate would be Slackware 15.0 with a few of Alien Bob's slackbuilds.
But, of course, the retro computing approach mentioned by another poster would look really nice and be a conversation piece.