jmc

An integer $n$ in the form $p^e$, for some prime $p$ and positive integer $e$, has $(e+1)$ positive factors. To maximize $e$, let $p=2$, the smallest prime. Since $n$ is less than 20, $e$ is at most 4, which means $n$ can have 5 factors. If $n$ is in the form $p_1^{e_1}\cdot p_2^{e_2}$, then let $p_1=2$ and $p_2=3$ to find the maximum possible $e_1$ and $e_2$. Both cannot be 2 (else $n=36$), so $e_1,e_2=1,2$ give the most factors: $(2+1)(1+1)=\boxed{6}$ factors. Finally, $n$ cannot be divisible by any other prime since $2\cdot 3\cdot 5=30>20$. Thus, the greatest number of distinct positive integer factors that a positive integer less than 20 can have is 6 factors. Of course, we could have solved this problem by finding the number of factors of each positive integer less than 20, but in general our approach is more efficient.