Which OS to install for computer illiterate friend

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timmmay

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#171742 29-Apr-2015 17:12

Friend of mine has an old Asus Laptop, Core2 Duo T2250 with 2GB RAM, running Windows XP. Windows update won't even work on it, so I'm upgrading the OS. Do y'all think I should put on Ubuntu 15.04 or Windows 10 preview? My friend is computer illiterate, he just wants to play music from an external drive, update his wordpress website, and do email, so real basics. The computer feels fast enough to do this in XP.

Free is essential, it'll be chucked out before too long.

I'm just unsure how average people would cope with Ubuntu. I had a quick play, seems perfectly user friendly to me.

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MikeB4
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#1293757 29-Apr-2015 17:19

For someone who has limited knowledge I would not install pre-release software that will expire circa October through January. As for Ubuntu that has a long learning curve and really I would not recommend it (many many years experience with Linux) Linux is not good on the desktop.
If you can get Windows 7 and many resellers still have it, if not go for Windows 8

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

ubergeeknz

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#1293758 29-Apr-2015 17:21

On 2Gb RAM, I'd go Windows 8/8.1, it will perform far better than Windows 7.

timmmay

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#1293761 29-Apr-2015 17:23

ubergeeknz: On 2Gb RAM, I'd go Windows 8/8.1, it will perform far better than Windows 7.

Options are Ubuntu or W10 - anything free.

Dynamic

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#1293762 29-Apr-2015 17:25

For clients wanting an internet computer in the staff lunchroom or similar we normally do an Ubuntu with auto-login on an account with limited rights. Of the 5 machines we have done this to in the last 3 years, the only repairs we have had to make have been for hardware failures. We've never had a printer connected to one fo these machines.

Icons on the desktop perhaps for webmail, Wordpress admin login, media player, and general browsing.

If you do a Windows 10 there will be ongoing maintenance, antivirus, undesirable browser plugins, etc. If their requirements are likely to change then Windows may be your best bet. If you do Ubuntu there should be little reason for you to be called back - especially if (s)he is not a fiddler.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

Dynamic

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#1293764 29-Apr-2015 17:25

Windows 10 is not a free upgrade from XP (as far as I have read).

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

timmmay

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#1293765 29-Apr-2015 17:26

Dynamic: For clients wanting an internet computer in the staff lunchroom or similar we normally do an Ubuntu with auto-login on an account with limited rights. Of the 5 machines we have done this to in the last 3 years, the only repairs we have had to make have been for hardware failures. We've never had a printer connected to one fo these machines.

Icons on the desktop perhaps for webmail, Wordpress admin login, media player, and general browsing.

If you do a Windows 10 there will be ongoing maintenance, antivirus, undesirable browser plugins, etc. If their requirements are likely to change then Windows may be your best bet. If you do Ubuntu there should be little reason for you to be called back - especially if (s)he is not a fiddler.

Sounds like a good plan. How do I set that up - do you happen to know of a decent guide?

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MikeB4

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#1293766 29-Apr-2015 17:27

No to Win 10 it is pre beta and just not stable. You could install Ubuntu but you will need to do tech support and tuition for a while. I would probably go for the LTS edition.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Dynamic

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#1293767 29-Apr-2015 17:28

timmmay: Sounds like a good plan. How do I set that up - do you happen to know of a decent guide?

Nah we just plunged ahead with a default install, and then added the limited user account. I can't remember if we got the browser auto-updating or left it frozen at the then-current version.

“Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.” Douglas Adams

Dynamic

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#1293770 29-Apr-2015 17:31

MikeB4: No to Win 10 it is pre beta and just not stable.

I've got 3 guys in my office running it on production workstations and their experience is excellent in the last 3 months. I think they elected to only get stable updates, as opposed to choosing the bleeding edge update option.

Rumours are for a July release so I would hope they have got it pretty close to finalised by now and just be bug-hunting. :)

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richms

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#1293771 29-Apr-2015 17:33

I would decline to offer support if the budget is zero.

Richard rich.ms

MikeB4

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#1293774 29-Apr-2015 17:37

Dynamic:
MikeB4: No to Win 10 it is pre beta and just not stable.

I've got 3 guys in my office running it on production workstations and their experience is excellent in the last 3 months. I think they elected to only get stable updates, as opposed to choosing the bleeding edge update option.

Rumours are for a July release so I would hope they have got it pretty close to finalised by now and just be bug-hunting. :)

I am running 10061 on a Laptop and yes its ok but it is still very pre-release and is time bombed so will expire. MS have hinted that there maybe un upgrade path from 10 Reviews to RTM but there has been no
confirmation of that, so at this time when they expire it's a format and install.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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timmmay

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#1293783 29-Apr-2015 17:49

richms: I would decline to offer support if the budget is zero.

He's a friend but I've already charged him around $700 to set up a website, email, etc. So this is a favor, given it will take me about an hour, not counting waiting time.

MikeB4

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#1293790 29-Apr-2015 17:57

timmmay:
richms: I would decline to offer support if the budget is zero.

He's a friend but I've already charged him around $700 to set up a website, email, etc. So this is a favor, given it will take me about an hour, not counting waiting time.

If you end up installing Ubuntu they have a very good support Forum www.ubuntuforums.org

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

nathan

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#1293792 29-Apr-2015 18:00

MikeB4:
Dynamic:
MikeB4: No to Win 10 it is pre beta and just not stable.

I've got 3 guys in my office running it on production workstations and their experience is excellent in the last 3 months. I think they elected to only get stable updates, as opposed to choosing the bleeding edge update option.

Rumours are for a July release so I would hope they have got it pretty close to finalised by now and just be bug-hunting. :)

I am running 10061 on a Laptop and yes its ok but it is still very pre-release and is time bombed so will expire. MS have hinted that there maybe un upgrade path from 10 Reviews to RTM but there has been no
confirmation of that, so at this time when they expire it's a format and install.

for the first time ever in Windows, we are supporting upgrades from Windows 10 Technical Preview to final release

kiwikiwi

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#1293793 29-Apr-2015 18:00

I would also support the Ubuntu but I wouldn't go for 15.04 instead go for 14.04 LTS.

It's gonna be long supported and 15.04 literally just came off bleeding edge and testing so I would rather stick with stable releases. As in terms for using Ubuntu. The Unity UI is literally all glamour and is pretty snappy but it's also a hogger, so many experiment with it and see how it runs, if it runs poorly I recommend Lubuntu. LXDE is insanely low resource and also looks like XP(you can even theme it too)

nathan:
MikeB4:
Dynamic:
MikeB4: No to Win 10 it is pre beta and just not stable.

I've got 3 guys in my office running it on production workstations and their experience is excellent in the last 3 months. I think they elected to only get stable updates, as opposed to choosing the bleeding edge update option.

Rumours are for a July release so I would hope they have got it pretty close to finalised by now and just be bug-hunting. :)

I am running 10061 on a Laptop and yes its ok but it is still very pre-release and is time bombed so will expire. MS have hinted that there maybe un upgrade path from 10 Reviews to RTM but there has been no
confirmation of that, so at this time when they expire it's a format and install.

for the first time ever in Windows, we are supporting upgrades from Windows 10 Technical Preview to final release

That's actually really interesting and neat. I guess you really want those people from Windows 7 up to get off it and go W10.

Shame can't be said for Vista users(THERE ARE SOME)

You can also follow me on twitter here @kiwifortw I do twitch streams every now and then at twitch.tv/kiwiforthewin :)

HTTP 404 Sarcasm not found.

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