[TrevorS]

My concern is just that given a relatively old board, the built in hardware devices (specifically LAN, video, audio) are likely not supported by the distro as is. Guess it depends on just how far back (and how broadly) their original 2006 distro reached. Given the board has a variety of Linux drivers from Intel through 2004, perhaps the chances aren't so bad, don't know.

I would like to know of a reasonably complete operator manual for the OS (the so called "User Manual" is very incomplete). An example -- what is the command set for the console? I gather the marketed Linux distros consist of a series of layers, the uppermost being the graphical user interface, the base being the core Linux build. I gather in Mint's case, above the Linux core is Debian, then Ubuntu (or perhaps the Debian and Ubuntu elements are at the same level?), then Mint, and finally one of some four desktops (including Cinnamon and Mate).

I would've guessed the driver question is one of compatibility with the Linux core, but given the multiple drivers Intel provides, I gather the core itself is variable, both an advantage and disadvantage of open source. As suggested, just have to try it. If I hit a problem, can try installing drivers from Intel's offerings and see if one works. I was expecting there would be a driver compatibility guideline provided by Mint's developers, but if one exists, it's clearly not in the "User Manual"!