What operating system should I buy for my grandfather?

Question

My grandfather, who is 80 years old, has tried learning how to use the internet and email the past couple years. He is not too bad overall. However, when I try to teach him at his house, I realize that his system is so slow and cluttered. He had someone purchase an expensive HP laptop from Staples, but it came with so much junk he would not even think of using. If I can hardly use the system, how can he learn?

He currently has VISTA. My idea is to purchase a fresh operating system, maybe Windows 7? And I know that these products, when installed, are very bare. I can then download things he might use like firefox, outlook, skype, Office, etc.

My question is: What operating system do you recommend? Where should I buy it? If Windows 7, should I purchase an "Upgrade" (I hear this may not clean up the system) or the regular package. Thanks yahoo!

Answer 1

Get Win7 for him, then you can CAREFULLY set it up so's all he needs is obvious and right up front. (I'm speaking from experience with our 80-year-old mother...my mother-in-law.)



We set her up with Firefox. But not only that. All she uses it for is email, so we set her up with a gmail userid, and set up gmail itself as the home page (NOT Google! but gmail.) We changed the icon for the shortcut to a picture of an envelope, representing email. We set her up with a simple list of contacts so she could type in TO addresses by FIRST name: gmail's really good about narrowing down the choices.



We set her up with a simple picture viewer (picassa), and an icon for that (picture of a picture).



You can do things like that, so your grandfather NEVER has to do anything but click the obvious icons. And tell him, when Win7 prompts for self-maintenance (which it will sometimes, and which Firefox will sometimes) just click Yes.



And tell him how to shut down and start up. And yer good.

Answer 2

I completely agree with you. Cluttered systems are nearly useless, especially Vista. Getting a new on is the best idea. Yeah, I recommend Windows 7. Easy to use, prettier than XP, better than Vista, and it would be making most of the expensive laptop.

Get the regular package, upgrading won't help at all, it will keep everything you're trying to remove. Make a nice hard disk format (not the whole thing, just one partition), and then start from a clean slate. I find that almost physically refreshing for me ^^

Answer 3

If you upgrade to Windows 7, it will be just slightly faster. It is not worth it at all.



You need a good firewall and a good antivirus to protect Windows PC. Note that they will make your computer even slower.



If you really want you computer to be faster, install Linux like Ubuntu. You can install it a second OS. If someone learns from scratch, Ubuntu is easier than Windows. You can install skype, firefox, open office. It will also have Evolution which is similar to outlook. And it is all free! Besides much better performance, Ubuntu won't need a firewall and antivirus, but it will be much faster. Your father won't have any viruses like Winlock nor he will see the BSOD.



Software for linux is not compatible with Windows, but Ubuntu comes with lots of software including a web-browser, open office, games, audio/video players, cd/dvd burning software....



Bottom line: Leave Windows Vista as is or install Ubuntu as a second OS.

Answer 4

1. Get Windows 7 (Shop around for best price, both on-line and in stores) - Home edition should be find for him. (I use Windows 7, has a nice look and is faster than Vista.)



2. Remove unwanted/unneeded programs that come with it.



3. Install programs that he wants. (Include an Anti-virus!!)



4. I agree with the first guy about not using IE. Firefox is the way to go. Plus he can use 'Personas' to dress up his browser.



5. Win

Answer 5

First off, if you decide to upgrade to Win7, check the HP site for your model laptop and make sure HP supports Win7 on your Vista machine. You will need Win7 driver and hardware support for your laptop model. Second, you can clean up most if not all of the "bloat ware" from the laptop by hand. Check out the pcdecrapifier link below, it works wonders on a new machine and older ones too. For anti virus and malware use the microsoft security essentials program, its free and and updates are free also. I use cleanup , see link below to clear out temp and other junk on all my machines, read the directions before running the first time. If you decide to upgrade, read the supersite for windows article first, it has all the details concerning Win7 upgrades and what to do and not do.

Answer 6

From a usability perspective, Vista is exactly the same as 7.



I'd personally reformat it to get all of the garbage off, and then install whatever utilities he needs in the easiest accessible way possible.



Also, set him up with broadband so he only has to click on firefox.

Don't let him use IE because there's about a 99.9% chance you'll be cleaning up viruses later.

Answer 7

80 years old and you want him to learn about win7 when he knows vista ??????



are you out of your mind - stick with what he knows, not what you want him to have