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Giving old XP laptop to mama

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    #32
    Gadgetman496
    Registered Users Posts: 8,398 ✭✭✭Gadgetman496


    Unknown Soldier wrote: »
    With reference to XP, would decent Internet security software counteract any issues with giving someone an old laptop/PC with XP on it?

    The whole bitchn' thing regarding the end of the world if you use XP is totally over exaggerated.

    Windows XP was still running on 10.9% of all desktops worldwide as of March 2016, according to stats compiled by Net Applications.

    "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."



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    #33
    riclad
    Registered Users Posts: 8,184 ✭✭✭riclad


    ON that laptop with 1gig ram , lubuntu will run 2-3 times faster than xp
    and its secure and safe .Alot of business pcs are not connected to the web.
    Theres no security updates for xp,its not safe to use for credit cards ,banking ,social websites like facebook , as you have to assume that the os will be hacked.
    I don,t understand why anyone who can afford pay for broadband ,cant buy a windows 7 laptop.
    On adverts.ie or buyandsell cost 150 euro,cpu 2.0ghz,2gig ram,dvdrw drive,
    dual core cpu .i would have no desire to use a pc with 1gig ram,
    no more than i intend to buy an old nokia 3310 phone that has no apps and no touchscreen.
    my laptop with 4gig ram is twice as fast as my older laptop dual core cpu that has 4gig
    ram ,my new laptop has a 64bit cpu .
    i have 3 old laptops ,i intend to give em to a charity
    after i test em properly.dual core cpus, 2.0.
    A laptop with 1 gig ram and linux will maybe acceptable to a user
    who uses the web for a short time ,a very casual user


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    #34
    ItHurtsWhenIP
    Registered Users Posts: 2,025 ✭✭✭ItHurtsWhenIP


    Unknown Soldier wrote: »
    With reference to XP, would decent Internet security software counteract any issues with giving someone an old laptop/PC with XP on it?

    No, it won't. The OS is vulnerable and sooper dooper security software will do nothing to prevent it being exploited. I'd be surprised if any such software would even work on XP now.


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    #35
    ItHurtsWhenIP
    Registered Users Posts: 2,025 ✭✭✭ItHurtsWhenIP


    Gadgetman496 wrote: »
    The whole bitchn' thing regarding the end of the world if you use XP is totally over exaggerated.

    Windows XP was still running on 10.9% of all desktops worldwide as of March 2016, according to stats compiled by Net Applications.

    It's actually 9.07% and I would expect a large portion of those are ATMs and other embedded devices.


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    #36
    Gadgetman496
    Registered Users Posts: 8,398 ✭✭✭Gadgetman496


    ItHurtsWhenIP wrote: »
    It's actually 9.07% and I would expect a large portion of those are ATMs and other embedded devices.

    Yes, but that was December 2016 and I referenced March 2016 ;)

    "Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."



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    #37
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    Thanks again folks. My mam will be a very very casual user so I think my old laptop will be fine :) It suited me grand for pretty heavy usage 5 years ago so I can't imagine my mam will be needing any more than I ever needed!


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    #38
    PropJoe10
    Registered Users Posts: 5,301 ✭✭✭PropJoe10


    The main problem with using XP now is that most third-party vendors have kicked it into touch in terms of support. You can't run the latest versions of Chrome on it, Firefox is cutting support soon and and Dropbox etc have also pulled the plug. Plus, the actual OS hasn't had security patches for close to 3 years. I dont know why anyone would want to use it.


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    #39
    PrzemoF
    Registered Users Posts: 1,931 ✭✭✭PrzemoF


    Gadgetman496 wrote: »
    The whole bitchn' thing regarding the end of the world if you use XP is totally over exaggerated.

    Windows XP was still running on 10.9% of all desktops worldwide as of March 2016, according to stats compiled by Net Applications.

    The thing is that the days of viruses that used to show a pirate flag, wipe your HDD and play music are over. You might be a part of a bot net without even knowing it for _months_. Or it might be waiting for you to access a particular webpage (paypal, a bank). 10% still runs XP? Great! Now I know where the offers to buy a pallet of mackerel cans from Morocco come from! ;)


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    #40
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    Hmmmm... I just came across this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/andromium/the-superbook-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-laptop-f

    I'm thinking something like this could be the best solution? My mam wouldn't have to learn a whole new system and would be familiar with the UI etc too and then of course everything would always be in the one place, her phone.


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    #41
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    Hey folks, I know a few of you were suggesting Libre Office over open office, I did a quick google myself too and it definitely seems like the more popular one now, but I'm just wondering on compatibility, I know openoffice could open microsoft office files, is it the same with libre office, and can open office and libre office open eachothers files? Does Libre office save as .odt and .ods too or something different?

    Also, does anyone know how Libre Office files are compatibility wise with Google? If I was to upload spreadsheets and doc files, can Google recognise the formatting etc?

    Any help would be great :)


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    #42
    PrzemoF
    Registered Users Posts: 1,931 ✭✭✭PrzemoF


    No clue about google docs, but the rest should be fine. odt is LibreOffice "native" format
    Check "Application support" section: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OpenDocument


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    #43
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    Thanks a lot, I see in the Application Support, Libre Office, Open Office and Google Docs are all mentioned, so this is great news :)


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    #44
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    Hey folks, I actually still haven't gotten around to sorting this out yet, but I've recently learned that Chromebooks have their own OS, I always just thought they were a type of laptop from Google. Anyway, I see you can put Chrome OS on old laptops too, not just chromebooks, and thinking maybe this would be a better option since my mam is already familiar with Android and she really only needs it for documents which Google docs would suit fine for?


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    #45
    PropJoe10
    Registered Users Posts: 5,301 ✭✭✭PropJoe10


    cormie wrote: »
    Hey folks, I actually still haven't gotten around to sorting this out yet, but I've recently learned that Chromebooks have their own OS, I always just thought they were a type of laptop from Google. Anyway, I see you can put Chrome OS on old laptops too, not just chromebooks, and thinking maybe this would be a better option since my mam is already familiar with Android and she really only needs it for documents which Google docs would suit fine for?

    I'm not altogether sure what ChromeOS is like in terms of hardware support for old laptops, but you could definitely give it a shot. I think if it were me, I'd probably go for some sort of lightweight distro like Lubuntu, Zorin Lite or Peppermint. But if you find ChromeOS to be good for this, report back and let us know! :cool:


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    #46
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 14,011 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    Really, I am surprised that in the 10 months of this thread and the various suggestions, you have not at least downloaded a few of the suggested operating systems and run them from optical media or USB drive.

    At the very least do that much so you have some idea what is being suggested!


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    #47
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    Thanks for the input, I know I know, I should have just done that alright. I did attempt to once and it was a bit long winded and I got sidetracked at the time so put it off. Then when I found out Google had an actual OS, I thought it might work well for my mam considering she's somewhat familiar with android and already set up with a lot of Google services.

    My intention with any OS I was gonna put on it anyway, was to just have a shortcut on the desktop to open Google docs as she just wanted it for doing documents and thought a service that automatically saves and syncs to her phone would be best.

    the Chrome OS does that and then also has all the other stuff she's familiar with so I've got it installed now on the old laptop, via www.neverware.com and so far it seems like it might suit her well :)


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    #48
    me_irl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,400 ✭✭✭me_irl


    cormie wrote: »
    Hey folks, I actually still haven't gotten around to sorting this out yet, but I've recently learned that Chromebooks have their own OS, I always just thought they were a type of laptop from Google. Anyway, I see you can put Chrome OS on old laptops too, not just chromebooks, and thinking maybe this would be a better option since my mam is already familiar with Android and she really only needs it for documents which Google docs would suit fine for?

    Not sure if you've tried this one already, but I recommend using RemixOS

    http://www.jide.com/remixos-for-pc

    You can still install the Word, Excel, etc apps via Google Play.


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    #49
    Johnboy1951
    Registered Users Posts: 14,011 ✭✭✭✭Johnboy1951


    cormie wrote: »
    Thanks for the input, I know I know, I should have just done that alright. I did attempt to once and it was a bit long winded and I got sidetracked at the time so put it off. Then when I found out Google had an actual OS, I thought it might work well for my mam considering she's somewhat familiar with android and already set up with a lot of Google services.

    My intention with any OS I was gonna put on it anyway, was to just have a shortcut on the desktop to open Google docs as she just wanted it for doing documents and thought a service that automatically saves and syncs to her phone would be best.

    the Chrome OS does that and then also has all the other stuff she's familiar with so I've got it installed now on the old laptop, via www.neverware.com and so far it seems like it might suit her well :)

    :D glad you eventually got the finger out :D

    Hopefully it will suit her and work out well ;)


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    #50
    cormie
    Registered Users Posts: 20,836 ✭✭✭✭cormie


    me_irl wrote: »
    Not sure if you've tried this one already, but I recommend using RemixOS

    http://www.jide.com/remixos-for-pc

    You can still install the Word, Excel, etc apps via Google Play.

    Never heard of this, definitely sounds interesting, but installing it standalone looks crazy complicated:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7FgiaXDrHg


    Also, one of the comments says it's discontinued now and the guy is suggesting to use Phoenix instead?

    http://www.phoenixos.com/en/download_x86


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