In our village one of my neighbors had an old desktop she used for three things, checking her email, ordering books/dvd's from the public library and playing Freecell. It was loaded with 'Vista', one of the worst Win versions ever. She couldn't get it to do anything. I went down and realized her browser was having issues also. She was about to cry. I talked her into trying a version of Linux, my favorite, I installed it over her Vista and showed her what she needed to know and how to update it when required. It had Firefox and a Freecell game. I stayed until she was comfortable with it. For months she used it and bragged to me how easy it was. I kept it updated with the newer releases as they came along.
One day she stopped and said her friend had talked her into a laptop and wanted to know what she should ask for. I said make sure it has Win 8.1 and send her on her way. A day after getting her LT she called saying she is so frustrated and could I show her how to use it. She brought it to me and sat trying to follow me. She was completely lost and after taking a ream of notes I sent her home to give it another try. Two days later she called crying, she was so frustrated and was bringing the LT to me to have before she dumped it in her driveway. I waited, she showed and said I could have it. She was going back to her old ethernet cabled desktop.
I asked her to let me load the latest version of Linux and dump her Win 8.1. That afternoon I took it back to her and let her boot it up. She was ecstatic with something she had become used to. She called a few hours later and said she had been online ordered her latest book, checked her email and had played 5 games of Freecell, everything was right with the world. Every Monday we have game night at the club house and she comes over pats me on the shoulder and tells every one within earshot about her venture. She just turned 82, an active 82.
It's all in what you get used to and any change can be frustrating, my grandson is studying to be a software engineer, uses Macs and Windows, scoffs at me and my Linux, my son has everything in his house connected to his Apple network, I think he can even flush the toilet with an app. I have the advantage over them in costs, every thing's free with Linux, ease of use and I don't need the latest gadget to get full advantage of whatever version I use. I don't suffer from GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome). I have a free office suite, a free graphic application that rivals AutoCad. Games galore. Surf the web in relative safety and a free version of anything that runs on Windows. More and more applications are browser based that it becomes a moot point to need the newest equipment or the latest dynamic version out of Redmond, WA.
I bought me a HP laptop loaded with Win 7 and gave up with all the problems after 4 months installed Linux and haven't looked back. But Linux is not for everyone there are a few quirks, I have found that there is 1000's of websites devoted to easily solving your questions or problems without jumping through hoops to get them. Unix/Linux is the backbone of the internet and whenever you pick up an Android device you are using Linux. Being retired I can wait a second or two for my web pages to load and my life doesn't go into gimbel lock if things go awray with my operating system, I just reload and life goes on.
Now I know a few months ago Microsoft had a nasty virus and I was warned NOT to open anything like that! The computer guys I use told me that and it was on the news too. I just don't like Windows anymore
