Coreboot now powers the aging ThinkPad X61.
In May 2026 Alex Heymans published a working Coreboot build for the X61, the last ThinkPad to ship with a legacy BIOS. The port targets the Intel Core Duo T2300 processor and boots the original 2 GB RAM configuration. It supports the integrated graphics, the trackpoint, and the built‑in webcam, but skips advanced features like SATA‑III NCQ and GPU‑accelerated video playback.
For users, the switch means faster boot times, better power management, and the ability to run custom open‑source firmware without proprietary blobs. Developers gain a testbed for legacy x86 firmware work and a reference for bringing Coreboot to other early‑2000s laptops.
The effort underscores how far community firmware has come, yet it also highlights that even a completed port may still leave out newer peripherals, keeping the X61 a niche hobbyist platform rather than a mainstream replacement.