There’s life yet in 32-bit computing
One of Linux’s oft-touted advantages is that it runs on old hardware. This is true, but there are limits. For example, the Linux kernel dropped support for Intel’s 386 processor (the very architecture on which Torvalds’ first Linux builds ran) at the end of 2012.
Breathing life into old hardware is a nice idea, but it’s easy to underestimate the demands that “regular desktop use” imposes on such machines. Most distros gave up supporting x86 CPUs lacking PAE memory management (introduced with the Pentium Pro in 1995), even though the kernel still supports them. So while using a 486 with Linux isn’t impossible, you’ll have your work cut out.
Lately, distros have started to discuss winding down support for 32-bit x86 altogether. It’s already happened in Arch Linux (though a community maintained fork is alive and well), Fedora now only provides a minimal 32-bit install media and Ubuntu desktop will be doing the same for the upcoming 18.04 release.
Although demand is waning some specialist distributions will continue to support 32-bit x86 installations. One such is the excellent Legacy edition of Bodhi Linux, which is also on the LinuxFormat DVD. Like elementary this is based on Ubuntu 16.04, so despite the obvious cosmetic differences the installation procedure and system layout are all the same.