Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

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12padams

Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by 12padams »

Hey everyone!

My mum and I have a YouTube channel in which I get her to try out different operating systems to see if she can easily perform the tasks I tell her to. Recently I got her to try out Linux Mint Cinnamon edition 14 which so far is her favorite operating system followed by Ubuntu. Here's the video of her with Linux Mint 14 Cinnamon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-PTQVeCF9k

For those interested this channel all started when I got her to try using Windows 8 (she only ever uses windows xp) and she hated it. So we went in search to find the best operating system ever. We arn't limited to now either... she's even trying out operating systems throughout history. Here is some more videos for you to check out:

Windows 8 (2012): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ujmDrcKWo8
Ubuntu 12.10 (2012): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgGbZfR6Vec
Windows 1.01 (1985): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UToIwIe6sSM
Windows 3.11 (1992): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO8eQUjjFNc
Microsoft BOB (1995): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3chib6dGO4

If you want to see more videos subscribe to our channel http://www.youtube.com/user/OsFirstTimer and you will be notified by email everytime she tries out a new operating system.

Hope you all enjoy ;)
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 07, 2022 4:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
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bimsebasse

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by bimsebasse »

Haha, great video! Our mums are at the same skill level it seems and it's almost heartwarming to see her pleased with various interface bits and bobs :D
mockturtl

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by mockturtl »

Ha! Neat idea. Good luck. She'll probably do better with KDE than I did.
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Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by caf4926 »

Thought that was going to turn in to a MILF video...
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12padams

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by 12padams »

caf4926 wrote:Thought that was going to turn in to a MILF video...
What made you think that...
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Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by caf4926 »

mockturtl wrote:Ha! Neat idea. Good luck. She'll probably do better with KDE than I did.
Just the title
Then the start of the vid. Put it this way, your Mum ain't ugly :-)
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Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by Oscar799 »

Ok - a bit of joking around is fine,but let's stay polite about each other's mothers thanks
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Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by caf4926 »

Oscar799 wrote:Ok - a bit of joking around is fine,but let's stay polite about each other's mothers thanks
Sure...
Nothing impolite was intended. Honestly.

It was just seeing the OP with lots of http links for videos...and the mention of Mother etc...
Apologies if I stepped over the line.
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Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by exploder »

I watched the video with Linux Mint and the one with Windows 8. I like the videos because the guys mom represents the average computer user. The comments on Linux Mint were pretty good and she seemed to be able to navigate if pretty easy and her feedback was mostly positive. I had not seen anyone trying to use Windows 8 before and the woman seemed to struggle with it quite a bit. By the looks of things most people including me would have a rough time getting used to it. I liked the womans comments and I tend to agree with her on everything she had to say. Windows 8 does look like a step backwards and the interface did not make much sense. I am going to view, they are very interesting. a couple more of the videos

Edit: Microsoft Bob really looks bad' I can see why it was a flop!
caerolle

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by caerolle »

The Mint one says it is currently unavailable, but I watched the W8 one. I will check back to see if the Mint one becomes available.

The W8 one was very interesting in s lot of ways! I do have one comment, STOP SNICKERING AT YOUR MUM! She is being such an awesome sport, and very good-natured. I probably would just laugh at my son if he did this to me, so likely it doesn't bother her, but OMG, if I were there while you were filming, I would have hit you! It doesn't come across as very nice. I do really love her self-confidence. She doesn't consider herself stupid (which my Mom would in a similar situation), she considers the ppl who wrote the OS idiots. Brava for her!

caerolle
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Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by caerolle »

Looked at the Ubuntu one. That is the number one thing I hate about Unity, is the disconnected toolbar. I have apps/windows open all over the screen, want my menus at the window, NOT at the top of the screen! I can't wait to see how your Mum does with Mint, I am thinking she is going to be delighted!

I love how patient and persistent your Mum is, and so comfortable with ambiguity! You are such a lucky son, or so it seems! :)

edit: PS, next time you might want to have her put on a fresh top! Just a girl thing, but I noticed right off that she had something on the bottom of her top.

edit II (sorry, kinda live-blogging as I watch, lol): Your Mum is right on the money with the conversion between files from different OSes! She hits on the difference between 'mostly convertible' and 'interchangeable'. I know lots of ppl disagree with me, but I find that Office files that I have do not work in Libre. Yes, if you have very simple documents or spreadsheets, you are probably mostly ok, but for example if your Word files have much formatting (and no, I don't mean huge complicated documents like you really should use Framemaker for, just technical reports), you are likely to have some serious issues. And of course you didn't even bring up using all the Windows programs that aren't available in Linux, such as tax prep, iTunes (if you are inclined to such a thing), and all that. The more interesting experiment would be not just could she get Linux up and running, but to have her use it for three months or something and see how she fared. She might actually like W8 better, just b/c once she learned how to use it, she could do all the things she was used to doing with far less hacking.
12padams

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by 12padams »

The comments on Linux Mint were pretty good and she seemed to be able to navigate if pretty easy and her feedback was mostly positive
That's why I posted it here. I typically post the video on the forum corresponding the the operating system tried. E.g. Ubuntu video on the Ubuntu forums. I do however avoid posting it on the forum if she had negative opinions of the operating system since its quite insulting to the fans of the operating system. For example I posted the windows 8 one on the windows 8 forums and boom... I was in trouble lol ;)

However this is what one of the windows 8 people said (note windows 8 was my first video and I had not recorded any others):
What's the point of these type of videos? If you sat someone down in front of a computer running XP, OS X, Linux or whatever and told them to start using it they would have a similar experience.

I proved them wrong lol!
Edit: Microsoft Bob really looks bad' I can see why it was a flop!
Notice how she initially liked it and though wow... The more she used it the more she hated it though lol ;) If you take Microsoft's theory of early and often then the "early" was a success but the "often" is a huge failure.
I do have one comment, STOP SNICKERING AT YOUR MUM! She is being such an awesome sport, and very good-natured. I probably would just laugh at my son if he did this to me, so likely it doesn't bother her, but OMG, if I were there while you were filming, I would have hit you! It doesn't come across as very nice.
She is fine with me laughing as it adds to the comedy of the videos. If I stood there with no expressions I would seem like a very dull person. The things she says sometimes is hilarious. Take this for example:

Me: So what operating system do you prefer to use?
Mum: The one I'm used to.
Me: Well what is that?
Mum: Windows 7, That will do.
Me: You don't even use windows 7
Mum: What do I use?
Me: *Laughs* Seriously you should know what you use!
Mum: Vista
Me: You don't, You hate vista.
Mum: Well what do I use then?
Me: The thing before vista.
Mum: XP
Me: Yes XP
Mum: Well that's fine, just stay with the XP.
Me: 2001
Mum: It doesn't matter. I'm used to it. I know what to do and thats it!
She doesn't consider herself stupid (which my Mom would in a similar situation), she considers the ppl who wrote the OS idiots. Brava for her!
She feels stupid when I reshow her bits of the videos and laughs at herself in them.
edit: PS, next time you might want to have her put on a fresh top! Just a girl thing, but I noticed right off that she had something on the bottom of her top.
yea she had a dirty shirt with paint on it in the Ubuntu one so she decided to get all dressed up for the Linux mint one ;)
The more interesting experiment would be not just could she get Linux up and running, but to have her use it for three months or something and see how she fared. She might actually like W8 better, just b/c once she learned how to use it, she could do all the things she was used to doing with far less hacking.
Yes but something like that wouldn't work... She doesn't want me to touch her computer because she worships and uses windows xp as if it were a god or religion. She did tell me however if she did need to update she would use linux mint rather than windows 8 unless windows 9 turned out better.
caerolle

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by caerolle »

W3.3:

"It reminds me of the blue screen of death, and it makes me feel like I need to buy you a new computer."

This one was beyond funny! I loved seeing you stumped, too! ;)

These vids are so charming! You two are so funny together. Thanks so much to making them, I have really enjoyed watching them! Going to try the Mint one again.
12padams

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by 12padams »

Sorry to let you all down after saying Linux Mint was her favorite operating system... but another operating system has now taken that title instead.

Recently I got her to try out try MAC OSX 10.2 Jaguar (2002). Although it was a long slow process to get her used to this operating system and be able to confidently use it she loved it by the end of the video.
Here's a link to the video but please note I won't be posting updates on this forum anymore since Linux Mint isn't her favorite anymore...
http://youtu.be/u3wQztA0vq0

Note: Video still uploading as of the time I posted this reply so check back in an hour or two if its still not up ;)
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Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by xenopeek »

She should use whatever works best for her :wink: Moving the topic here, as we're now threading into non-Linux grounds...
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MintyGo

Re: Mother's first experience with Linux Mint 14 (Cinnamon)

Post by MintyGo »

What a great idea :-) Good luck with all the progress.
I didn't have much luck on KDE so hopefully it will suit her better than it did me :P
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