4 ms·

uh, no. Quite a few people on XP are there because its what they know. It also is all they need. Personal example, I would love to replace my mom's computer bu

uh, no. Quite a few people on XP are there because its what they know. It also is all they need. Personal example, I would love to replace my mom's computer but she likes her version of Office which was the version we installed when she obtained her PC, which runs XP. I suspect she isn't alone in not wanting to change something that works. For many people tech is just the annoyance they have to put with to do what they want to do. Top that off with hundred dollar or more to upgrade and why should people do it? At least Apple got it right, FINALLY, after many years of charging for OS upgrades to not doing so. Having helped organizations with donated computers I am not sure there is a real alternative. Linux? Really? Its hard enough sourcing decent used machines for people, I certainly am not game to loading Linux and then teaching them to use it. Perhaps if there were one install and software was available at the store... do you understand?

fletchowns 13y ago
A web browser is typically all they need. It works the same way in Linux. Turn on automatic updates and show them the web based version of Office.
oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
So you're going to leave your non-technical mom using an unpatched OS connected to the public Internet? Let me know how that works out.
- chris_wot 13y ago
  Yeah, that's pretty much the current situation anyway with a lot of folks.
  - oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
    Would be interesting to know. Based on anecdotal reports, I would guess that we are now today in a situation in which more people than ever are running an unpatched, Internet-connected computer - I'm hypothesising that XP is by far the most 'un-upgraded' OS we've had since mass adoption of the Internet.
- nyrina 13y ago
  For someone that doesn't know what google is, and are barely able to click on that Internet Explorer icon - much less use it once it does open, my mother is far from what I'm worried about. My sister, clicking everything that looks flashy, though... Her, I'm worried about.
andrey-p 13y ago
There's Linux distros that specifically try and look like Windows to make the transition easier. Last I checked Zorin OS[1] was one of them but looking at their website now it seems they've decided to take a different route. It's certainly gone a lot more, um, sci-fi since then. [1]: http://zorin-os.com/ http://zorin-os.com/

fletchowns 13y ago

A web browser is typically all they need. It works the same way in Linux. Turn on automatic updates and show them the web based version of Office.

oneeyedpigeon 13y ago

So you're going to leave your non-technical mom using an unpatched OS connected to the public Internet? Let me know how that works out.

chris_wot 13y ago
Yeah, that's pretty much the current situation anyway with a lot of folks.
- oneeyedpigeon 13y ago
  Would be interesting to know. Based on anecdotal reports, I would guess that we are now today in a situation in which more people than ever are running an unpatched, Internet-connected computer - I'm hypothesising that XP is by far the most 'un-upgraded' OS we've had since mass adoption of the Internet.
nyrina 13y ago
For someone that doesn't know what google is, and are barely able to click on that Internet Explorer icon - much less use it once it does open, my mother is far from what I'm worried about. My sister, clicking everything that looks flashy, though... Her, I'm worried about.

andrey-p 13y ago

There's Linux distros that specifically try and look like Windows to make the transition easier. Last I checked Zorin OS[1] was one of them but looking at their website now it seems they've decided to take a different route. It's certainly gone a lot more, um, sci-fi since then. [1]: http://zorin-os.com/ http://zorin-os.com/