Running x86 in 2022

I have a stove of old laptops that I use for various projects. I just came about re-installing one of them, and one of the few Linux distro releases I came across that supported x86 was Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS, which is only supported until April this year.

I guess there are more operator-intensive distros out there that I could use, but this question is about install-update-and-leave-it situations. I should note that these machines are most often connected to the Internet, so it is in my interest to use a supported version.

What is the best solution for running x86 forward? Or is it time to throw away the old rust?