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So it's happened; mom's venerable Dell has bit the dust and I'm being called on to find her a new laptop. Everything I've seen here and elsewhere says Windows 10 is a privacy nightmare and we're trusting Microsoft's forced automatic updates to not break the computer. Dell is still offering computers with Win 7 and 8.1, but Microsoft is pushing the OS upgrade hard and heavy. I'd love for her to let me set her up with Linux but she's devoted to Google Picasa (Google not porting their apps is another rant) and I'm not sure how often she's going to be calling me with some Windows only program she needs. And then there's Apple, which makes my fingers itch to type, but it's looking better and better. So, what is the collective wisdom of the Soylentils*?
- Is windows 10 really not that bad and just roll with it.
- Is Linux finally ready for Grandma?
- Stick with 8.1 and turn off all the updates?
- Shell out the cash for a Macbook?
*Irony duly noted.
(Score: 3, Informative) by dr zim on Tuesday November 03 2015, @05:46PM
I have both grandmas and the ex wife on chrome books and it meets 99% of their needs and I can always help them out on the 1% it doesn't. Cheap and fingerproof.
(Score: 1) by Gertlex on Tuesday November 03 2015, @06:28PM
I've never used one, but this was going to be my tentative suggestion, too.
Given how much trouble mom has with a windows computer, I'd rule Windows and Linux and Macs out, usually. And I've heard good things about chromebooks' simplicity. Thankfully mom has still got perfectly good eyesight, so her android phone has become her goto device, greatly reducing the need for assistance.
(Random aside, I'm using Pale Moon browser, and it's complaining about the spelling of 'mom'...)
(Score: 2) by Absolutely.Geek on Tuesday November 03 2015, @11:44PM
it is complaining because it speaks English not english-ish
Don't trust the police or the government - Shihad: My mind's sedate.