Alternative to Windows XP - or should I bother

A neighbor has a WinXP machine and she read that MS was going to stop updating it, etc. so she asked me to look into alternatives. She doesn't really want to buy a new PC since her use is very light.

I am torn. Part of me knows there are lots of good Linux distros I could install for her but part of me thinks - why bother. She isn't going to be download "questionable" stuff which often seems to come with viruses so I am wondering if she should just keep using XP until she actually wants to buy a new PC (because of speed or because the old one breaks) and then get whatever OS is current then.

I guess it isn't a huge deal to go the Linux anymore. I can't really think of anything she won't be able to do. With OpenOffice or Libre Office she can open all her stuff, with Firefox she can browse all she wants. Still there is a learning curve and not everything works perfectly (flash can be a pain).

What are folks opinions around here? What would you recommend to your aunt, for example, who just wants to get email, write a few letters, and surf the Internet?

Keep using XP until it no longer runs software she wants. Then upgrade to a cheap Windows 8 machine, and sit on that until it becomes obsolete. That kind of user can get away with many years on a cheap PC, but they still have to buy a new one eventually.

I finally bought a new iMac to replace my 2006 version. I had finally reached the point where I could no longer upgrade the OS, and I was starting to find programs I could not run because my OS was out of date. If I get a similar seven years out of this one, then the cost really isn't as bad as it might seem up front.

Update her to Windows 7. Any machine that can run XP should run 7 about as quickly.

XP currently had more security issues than the newer operating systems, so I would just get Windows 7.

Then again, Ubuntu or whatever is free. Can't hurt to try free as a dual boot.

I'm updating at my kid's school that were running Win2000 to Vista (it's what they have licenses for). 7 should run on her XP box just fine.

However, it's not her intentional browsing that's going to get her into trouble. It's the zero days in emails that point to websites you don't even realize the system is opening that will get her. If she's using HTML in her email she's at risk IMO.

farley3k wrote:

A neighbor has a WinXP machine and she read that MS was going to stop updating it, etc. so she asked me to look into alternatives. She doesn't really want to buy a new PC since her use is very light.

I am torn. Part of me knows there are lots of good Linux distros I could install for her but part of me thinks - why bother. She isn't going to be download "questionable" stuff which often seems to come with viruses so I am wondering if she should just keep using XP until she actually wants to buy a new PC (because of speed or because the old one breaks) and then get whatever OS is current then.

I guess it isn't a huge deal to go the Linux anymore. I can't really think of anything she won't be able to do. With OpenOffice or Libre Office she can open all her stuff, with Firefox she can browse all she wants. Still there is a learning curve and not everything works perfectly (flash can be a pain).

What are folks opinions around here? What would you recommend to your aunt, for example, who just wants to get email, write a few letters, and surf the Internet?

I'd say bring over an Ubuntu Live disc, see if she likes that. No real risk since it's running off a CD, and she likes it can install and go after everything gets backed up properly.

Find out what she uses it for when she does use it. She might be a candidate for an inexpensive Chromebook--set it and forget it.

Any idea what the system specs are?

I'm a Linux guy, and if she wants to be able to get OS updates w /o buying new hardware (or software license), I'm not really sure there is another option. Specs should help you get an idea of what should run smoothest.

AnimeJ wrote:

I'd say bring over an Ubuntu Live disc, see if she likes that. No real risk since it's running off a CD, and she likes it can install and go after everything gets backed up properly.

This if you think she might be game. It meets her basic requirements, but is "weird and unfamiliar".

Malor wrote:

Update her to Windows 7. Any machine that can run XP should run 7 about as quickly.

Not free, and it would benefit greatly from more RAM if the box will hold it, but would definitely do the job.

I'm a Linux guy, and if she wants to be able to get OS updates w /o buying new hardware (or software license), I'm not really sure there is another option.

Windows 7 should run on anything that XP will run on, and will offer roughly comparable speed, maybe even a little better. More RAM would never hurt, but if it's a really old machine, it may be very expensive.

It does cost a fair bit, but I think everyone got their money's worth out of XP. A lot of people have been working for a lot of years to provide patches, and they gotta eat. It's fair to charge for an upgrade after so long.

I don't personally think Linux is likely to be a very good option. Around Ubuntu 10.04, I would have thought it might be okay, but I just don't see it working well in 2013. And I love Linux, I've got installations all over the house, a physical hard drive on this machine with an install, and three or four virtual machines on it, as well.

It was kind of grandma-ready in 2010, but I think it's gone backward in a big way.

Oh, another thought on hardware upgrade: I just put a Pentium G3220, on an ASRock B85 Pro 4, into my server machine to replace a Core 2 Duo, and it smokes. Two Haswell cores, at 3GHz, for $70. The motherboard was also $70. Add $35 in RAM, a $50 hard drive, and a $25 CD-ROM, and you can replace the guts of her whole computer for under $250, and it will be way faster than what she has.

I think Linux has too high a chance to frustrate an end user. Win 7 would work if the PC can run it well but by the time you buy a license you're a third of the way to a new bargain PC. It'd suck to upgrade windows and the motherboard fry a week later.

I have no idea what kind of PC it is, or how old really. I am sure it could run a Linux distro though and I don't imagine her level of frustration would be too high. All of the current versions have an icon for "browse the Internet" and once setup there really isn't an issue with drivers etc. Sure the first time I would have to get her printer working etc. but once that is done an end user hardly looks at those behind the scenes things.

I do hate to have her buy a copy of Win7, not because I don't like it but because the hardware itself will probably die soon and when she buys a new PC it will have an OS on it so it is just a waste of money to buy a copy of Win7.

Unless you feel strongly about putting a Linux distro on there, I'd say don't bother. When the time comes (April 8th, woohoo!), she can use it unsupported - it will still work, and people will still sell security products for it. If she's still on it currently, then the only thing moving her forward is Microsoft's stance, nothing else.

If she ends up getting a new system, that's great - bullet dodged and problem solved.

farley3k wrote:

What would you recommend to your aunt, for example, who just wants to get email, write a few letters, and surf the Internet?

A new (cheap) computer.

I think what people often fail to recognize about things like "just wants email" and "surf the Internet" is that these things continue to demand more resources than it took to do them in the past. Sites get more script-heavy every day, and more and more of the application itself is getting pushed into the browser environment.

Gmail today would bring the computer I first used Gmail on down to its knees. But just about any bottom-dollar computer I buy today will be leaps ahead of that old XP machine.

A new (cheap) computer.

Let me re-suggest that Pentium G3220. That is one kickass little chip for $70.