Basic operating System for parents

Fol20

My dad has finally come around to using a pc.

I think xp or win7 are a bit too complicated for him,so i was wondering whats the best operating system to install for the most basic user.Ther must be a few linux systems.

The requirements are as follows:

1.Ability to install microsoft installation software to disable the right click button on a Comfort Optical Mouse 3000.Dont know why but he find it hard to use 2 buttons so id like to disable the left click and put the right click as the one and only click button.

2.have a pdf reader

3.Google chrome,as its the most basic web browser.

4.If at all possible a dvd player.I have a xbox 360 hd dvd ad on hooked up the pc so that would be useful for him.

5.The ability to project the screen onto a larger screen.My dads eyesight isnt the best so he wants it this way.At the moment i have the laptop primary screen on a 42" lcd tv so id just like to have it like that again

DarrenMSP

Fol20 wrote: »

My dad has finally come around to using a pc.

I think xp or win7 are a bit too complicated for him,so i was wondering whats the best operating system to install for the most basic user.Ther must be a few linux systems.

The requirements are as follows:

1.Ability to install microsoft installation software to disable the right click button on a Comfort Optical Mouse 3000.Dont know why but he find it hard to use 2 buttons so id like to disable the left click and put the right click as the one and only click button.

2.have a pdf reader

3.Google chrome,as its the most basic web browser.

4.If at all possible a dvd player.I have a xbox 360 hd dvd ad on hooked up the pc so that would be useful for him.

5.The ability to project the screen onto a larger screen.My dads eyesight isnt the best so he wants it this way.At the moment i have the laptop primary screen on a 42" lcd tv so id just like to have it like that again

Well seen you want to use Microsoft installation software but keep it easy, that narrows it down to Windows. Windows 7 would be best. It's user friendly and I am sure in no time your father would find it easy to use.

It also tick's all the other boxes.

If he hasn't bought it, you could go the Mac route, but its not worth the cost if the use is not there.

Fol20

tbh,iv never even used a mac properly myself so i dunno what they are like.

I already have one of my older laptops for him,macs would be too expensive tbh.

wolfric

I'm not aware of any os so simplified that it even removes right click. Windows 7 would probably be the best one to be honest. Windows is probably considered one of the easiest to set up. All the installations are done mostly by themselves with just "click next" and so on. Hardly any changes require a shell and the help files actually lead you through.

I would avoid linux for the simple reason of compatability and user friendly. Imagine your father got some disk with a newspaper that you put it in and load it up. I don't think it would respond quite as easily with a linux machine.

The best thing tbh just to briefly teach him about basic concepts like copy and paste and then lay out the desktop easily. Have in bit letters, internet,music,dvd and so on. Lock the menu to some specific icons. have the account login automatically. Set up some account details that stop him from changing anything major to the computer by accident. For example prevent him from opening up the c drive. You never know when people might decide that the windows folder wasn't theirs so they'll just delete it.

I may get slaughtered for saying this and i do NOT want to start a windows vs linux fight... but any issue i've had with linux (which has been quite user friendly to set up and use for basic things) has never been an easy one (relatively speaking of course)

edit: i haven't used macs that much but their interface is quite user friendly. Why don't you let him use a few different computers and see what he likes.

sceptre

Remove right-click in Win XP. Also works in Vista. Probably works in Win7.

Fol20

The reason i want the ms software is because the fact that with their software you can allocate what each button,or in this case what a button doesnt do

Deano12345

Fol20 wrote: »

The reason i want the ms software is because the fact that with their software you can allocate what each button,or in this case what a button doesnt do

Ubuntu install (or one of its flavours) and WINE to emulate a windows enviroment (so you can use that MS software) would probably be the best course of action

wolfric

wine is fine but if it's so bad he needs only one mouse button i doubt having to set up wine to use new programs is exactly user friendly.

FruitLover

Might be worth looking at the Ubuntu 'netbook remix'. Very simplified UI, and very little need for right-clicking.

ED E

FruitLover wrote: »

Might be worth looking at the Ubuntu 'netbook remix'. Very simplified UI, and very little need for right-clicking.

I use EasyPeasyUBuntu on my EEE-PC(only works on EEE's) and its along the lines of what you want. Nothing simple will have windows apps while not being windows. You've got to decide if linux revisions are good enough. A cut down Ubuntu install is going to be user friendly once you get everything setup first.

Bandiman

a pre-emptive kick in the arse to the first person who suggests Google Chrome OS

Fol20

Bandiman wrote: »

a pre-emptive kick in the arse to the first person who suggests Google Chrome OS

I also like google chrome for its simplicity.Although it may not have all the addons that firefox has (yet!),i think its much better to use

monkeypants

Stick with Windows and give him a book like Windows X for Dummies or something like that. That's what I did with mine.

Alanstrainor

Fol20 wrote: »

I also like google chrome for its simplicity.Although it may not have all the addons that firefox has (yet!),i think its much better to use

He was talking about the Chrome OS, not the browser. He appears to be banned anyway, so meh.

Being honest i would haveto say i'd steer clear of linux as a whole. I'm not a windows fan boy, but linux, although very good, can be a pain in the hole if things go wrong. Automatic updates routinely fail on my ubuntu 9.10 machine, which causes weird things to happen. It's not a bother if you're relatively tech savy, otherwise they might be stumped.

There's going to be a bit of a learning curve involved no matter what OS you choose. I'd forget about this whole "getting rid of the right click" business, give your Dad an hour with it and it won't be a problem. If you have XP i'd just install that and see how you get on. Just install microsoft security essentials, put a few shortcuts on the desktop, ie chrome, office apps etc.

swampgas

Fol20 wrote: »

My dad has finally come around to using a pc.

I think xp or win7 are a bit too complicated for him,so i was wondering whats the best operating system to install for the most basic user.Ther must be a few linux systems.

I have installed Linux Mint on a number of systems with similar requirements, might be worth checking it out. http://www.linuxmint.com/

monkeypants

Think "What is easiest for me to direct them to do over the phone?" Because as soon as your folks run into problems, they're going to be calling you.

Alanstrainor

monkeypants wrote: »

Think "What is easiest for me to direct them to do over the phone?" Because as soon as your folks run into problems, they're going to be calling you.

And then you'll start getting calls from aunts, uncles, the neighbours...

Naikon

Get the him this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_From_Scratch
Hours of fun !!! Point is, there are many Linux distros for each type of user.

On a serious note, try an easy to use Linux distro such as Mint. All the codecs for
DVD viewing and multimedia stuff is there by default. WINE is but a click/command
away for the apps that are supported by it. Native is best though.

Forget spending 150+ on Windows 7 if the machine is doing anything other than gaming
or accounting software.

@EDIT- your dads eyesight can be strained less if you get him a decent font setup
with a high contrast theme. Don't go crazy on the resolution though. I know well
the effects of eyestrain when your eyesight is not perfect, so invest in good practice.

mickoneill30

wolfric wrote: »

I would avoid linux for the simple reason of compatability and user friendly. Imagine your father got some disk with a newspaper that you put it in and load it up. I don't think it would respond quite as easily with a linux machine.

That's an advantage of linux so
It's better that they cant install any old crap they download or get on a mag.

I had the same problems with my folks. They had an older PC and just needed to surf (apparently). So I popped on Redhat, Firefox & Thunderbird.

Then their printer wouldn't work. I spent a couple of hours with that eventually concluding it would never work. It was unsupported by the manufacturer (Lexmark) for linux. So for the next birthday I bought them a Brother multifunction. Then the scanner wouldn't work in linux. I didn't care enough. Told them to use it as a photocopier.

Then some sites my dad uses had a problem with Java. Spent a reasonable amount of time trying to figure out why Firefox thought I had an older version of Java when I had installed a newer version.

Then they got an iPod and wanted iTunes. Fuk.

The easiest Operating System for your folks is the one you're able to support easiest. Set up whatever OS you know and put a couple of big icons on the desktop for whatever they use. Then as the queries come in (and they will) you can install or tweak whatever they want.
In all honesty if you set up Linux / Windows / Mac for your folks and put the icons in the middle of the screen the simplicity is going to be pretty much the same whatever the OS. It's only when they start to mess about (which older folks don't do much) that the other parts of the OS become important.

Naikon

wolfric wrote: »

wine is fine but if it's so bad he needs only one mouse button i doubt having to set up wine to use new programs is exactly user friendly.

There are front ends such as wine-doors to ease the install.
WINE has no intention of making things easy to setup. API
is their sole priority.

Thats where wine-doors comes in. Still, native apps are ideal.
It's best to wean your parents off the windows crackpipe when
you can:eek:

My parents use more OSS stuff than win despite having windows
XP still running on their machines. Time for an upgrade............

Fol20

I was also wondering is there any user software that teaches basic computing..i dont have the patience to teach him:)

Dardania

Crazy idea-what about an ipad - perfect for web surfing and quite simple to use judging by using an iPhone...

1 no need to disable right click

2 views PDFs in the browser

3 the browser is very simple to use

4 no DVD player-maybe a standalone to his tv with big buttons?