My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her?

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James_Smith
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My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her?

Post by James_Smith »

She has a Dell desktop from 2009. I don't know much about it other than that it has Windows 7 and Office (I'm not sure which edition). Her computer usage pretty much breaks down as follows:

1. Surfing the internet (watching youtube vids, Facebook, doing genealogy, looking up stuff about knitting, puppies, kitties, etc.)
2. Playing Bejeweled 3, Freecell, Mah Jong, Solitaire, Bouncing Balls (whatever that is) and, very occasionally, some haunted house game in which you look for clues or something. Not sure what that's all about. I'm not into video games.
3. Checks her email using Outlook.

And that's it.

Why should she ditch Windows and go with Mint?

Thanks

P.S. When I go to visit her next, I'll bring a USB boot drive with LM18 XFCE so she can take it for a test drive. I reckon XFCE will be good for her computer, since it's 8 years old.

There is an update here if anyone is interested. Thanks for all who contributed to this thread.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
I have been using Linux for years and I am still a newbie
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Pierre
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by Pierre »

you mean, apart from scaring her about why her Windows is very insecure:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/sheerafrenkel/ ... .ftqk3M5BL

maybe just leave that usb stick, plugged in, and tell her not to remove it?.
- at least until your next visit,, when you can permanently install XFCE to her HDD
8)

2. will be the hard part - - finding suitable replacements, that is.
the others are straightforward & better security is easily explained.

they say, to strike while the fire is hot - - and the World of Windows is on fire, right now,
- there is no shortage of media articles, to convince her, on any Windows security issues.
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austin.texas
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by austin.texas »

The new linux that you can install is newer and more modern than the old Windows 7, and updates are easier. Gotta keep up with the times.
Mint 18.2 Cinnamon, Quad core AMD A8-3870 with Radeon HD Graphics 6550D, 8GB DDR3, Ralink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by Moem »

Here is what my mother (78) told me after I installed Mint on it and she played around for an hour:

1) It looks very nice, don't you think?
2) I though this would be hard. But it's not.
3) I really think my computer is faster now! (Yes, mom. You're right, it is.)

Half a year later:

4) Could you help me getting my scanner installed so that I don't have to start up Windows anymore? I'd prefer not to because it always takes so long, and I don't like the updating process, it always comes at the wrong time.
5) I read about a bad virus that gives people with Windows computers lots of problems. I'm sure glad I don't have to worry about that one.

My mother is a pretty similar kind of user as yours, except she does not play games and sometimes needs to make a presentation (she likes Libre Office impress just fine). We switched over from Outlook to Thunderbird years ago, so that was one less new thing to get used to. But apart from that, pretty similar usage.
Tell your mother that my smart-but-not-technical mother likes Mint a lot, finds it easy enough to use and is stoked about the easy updates, the fact she won't have to replace her computer as soon now, and the lack of virus threats.

Maybe if you also tell her my mother's age, that will make her competitive instincts flare up? :wink:
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by James_Smith »

Awesome answers so far. Thanks.

Here's a treat for you (click on the image to enlarge it):

Image
I have been using Linux for years and I am still a newbie
MintyO

Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by MintyO »

You should let your mom decide, not convince her in one way or another. But if it's like the title says, then I'd do what you were going to: take a stick with you ( :lol: a usb-stick). I'd also add, as I have a laptop about the same age that came with win7, that you should make one with Cinnamon too (pending if the machine runs on that smoothly). I'm continuously torn between Xfce and Cinnamon, have them both as separate installs and keep switching the one I use.
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by James_Smith »

MintyO wrote:You should let your mom decide, not convince her in one way or another.
Oh, believe me: if you knew my mom, you'd know that she can really dig her heels in either way. She either will or she won't. It will be her decision. I just want her to make an informed decision.
I have been using Linux for years and I am still a newbie
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by majpooper »

I am installing LM on a laptop for the fifth person I know. I never try to convince them (well because when I did in the past they were always skeptical) so I stopped completely. However when folks ask me to help them with their pc or laptop I show them mine. All these folks are to some degree like your Mom in that they are "general" users not gamers or do not need their pc to run some sophisticated Windows application.

My approach is to set up icons on the desktop for the applications they use and then let them. I find that the OS is really not important to them (some of them do not even understand the concept). I notice that if they can access what they like and need and the computer is perceived to be faster, more stable and more secure they are sold.

I have also found folks who are not especially computer savvy do not want to learn native linux applications that are substitutes for Windows application with one exception, my sister, who hated Windows 10 so much she converted from Quicken to Gnucash, which I had zero knowledge or experience with. I would say it took her a month to master GnuCash. But the upside is she did not have to invest any time and effort learning linux.
Citizen229

Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by Citizen229 »

The solution is simple. Just "agree" with her. Tell her it is a great idea. You wont convince anyone about anything. But you can get them to convince themselves.

Her needs:
1) web surfing-easy
2) games- could be difficult depends if instaled games or web based games. Web based = easy
3) email with outlook. Set up Thunderbird for her.

Should be a fairly easy switch for her needs, on the software side.
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by austin.texas »

"Here, mom - try this game"
"I like that. Can you put that on my computer?"
"Sure, mom - no problem"
Mint 18.2 Cinnamon, Quad core AMD A8-3870 with Radeon HD Graphics 6550D, 8GB DDR3, Ralink RT2561/RT61 802.11g PCI
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jimallyn
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by jimallyn »

A better question might be: what reason does she have to stay with Windows? I certainly couldn't think of any. I have been saving it when somebody posts here how glad they are they switched to Linux. I could post some of that stuff here if you like.
“If the government were coming for your TVs and cars, then you'd be upset. But, as it is, they're only coming for your sons.” - Daniel Berrigan
kukamuumuka

Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by kukamuumuka »

jimallyn wrote:A better question might be: what reason does she have to stay with Windows? I certainly couldn't think of any. I have been saving it when somebody posts here how glad they are they switched to Linux. I could post some of that stuff here if you like.
To press mintupdate icon seems to be overwhelming for some people ... and where are antivirus and defragging programs? :(
mariad_10

Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by mariad_10 »

With the recent cyber attack i have lost my trust in Windows. I would say it was my fault of not updating the system and lost all my important documents. Even the anti-viruses don't work.
J_C

Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by J_C »

Tell her my mum is 80 and happily uses Mint XFCE 8)
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by BG405 »

mariad_10 wrote:With the recent cyber attack i have lost my trust in Windows
The recent, highly publicized (at least in the UK) ransomware infections are resulting in a lot more people considering switching to Linux, which can only be a good thing. It may be what encouraged her to ask. The more this sort of thing appears in the headlines, the more people will discover the benefits of Linux.

However, I think this is the best reply so far:
Citizen229 wrote:The solution is simple. Just "agree" with her. Tell her it is a great idea. You wont convince anyone about anything. But you can get them to convince themselves.
Regarding software: if by Outlook you mean the web-based version, rather than part of the MS Office suite, this will be the same in Linux as it is in other OSs.
Dell Inspiron 1525 - LM17.3 CE 64-------------------Lenovo T440 - Manjaro KDE with Mint VMs
Toshiba NB250 - Manjaro KDE------------------------Acer Aspire One D255E - LM21.3 Xfce
Acer Aspire E11 ES1-111M - LM18.2 KDE 64 ----Two ROMS don't make a WRITE
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by Doruletz »

James_Smith wrote:She has a Dell desktop from 2009. I don't know much about it other than that it has Windows 7 and Office (I'm not sure which edition). Her computer usage pretty much breaks down as follows:

1. Surfing the internet (watching youtube vids, Facebook, doing genealogy, looking up stuff about knitting, puppies, kitties, etc.)
2. Playing Bejeweled 3, Freecell, Mah Jong, Solitaire, Bouncing Balls (whatever that is) and, very occasionally, some haunted house game in which you look for clues or something. Not sure what that's all about. I'm not into video games.
3. Checks her email using Outlook.

And that's it.

Why should she ditch Windows and go with Mint?

Thanks

P.S. When I go to visit her next, I'll bring a USB boot drive with LM18 XFCE so she can take it for a test drive. I reckon XFCE will be good for her computer, since it's 8 years old.
Given her age, I guess it will suffice to just tell her that by switching to Linux Mint she is sticking it to the establishment (Bill Gates and the lot). She would have been just the right age in the 70's to know what it means... :lol:

On a more serious note:
Linux Mint will do all of her above mentioned computer needs much faster and safer, without the need of an antivirus and the constant fear of having some 13 year old kid hacker wannabe messing up her PC.
All of those games you mentioned have a Linux native counterpart, Bejeweled is on STEAM and works on Linux as well. And for most other games that don't work on Linux directly, you can install WINE and PlayOnLinux for her.
OUTLOOK SUCKS, as does pretty much anything Microsoft makes. Mozilla Thunderbird is a much better and easier to use and setup email client.
OK, you might say I'm somewhat biased against Window$, just by looking at my avatar and my final comment, but I like my computer to do only what I want it to do, not what some CEO or employee in Redmond, WA or Cupertino, CA wants.
But that's just me...

Last but not least, my 81 year old father uses Linux Mint since about 2012 and love's it.
So, good luck with your mom!

EDIT:
Since you failed to mention any PC specs for your mom's computer, I'll have to guesstimate here...
If her computer is fairly decent hardware wise, install Linux Mint MATE, it's the closest to Windows as far as look and feel, thus the transition will be much easier for her.
If she has at least 2 to 4GB of either DDR3 or DDR2 RAM and at least a 2005-2008 Intel Core 2 Duo or Intel Core 2 Quad CPU, and a 20GB or bigger HDD, than Linux Mint MATE 18 or 18.1 is definitely the way to go.
I guess an AMD Phenom II or maybe even an Athlon II would also be OK, but since I never used anything else besides Intel and nVidia I can't be 100% sure in the AMD department...
Anything older and slower than that would require an XFCE or even LXDE version to run properly.

Here are the system requirements, from the release notes:

http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=3182

“Release Notes for Linux Mint 18.1 MATE”

System requirements:

512MB RAM (1GB recommended for a comfortable usage).
9GB of disk space (20GB recommended).
1024×768 resolution (on lower resolutions, press ALT to drag windows with the mouse if they don’t fit in the screen).

Notes:

The 64-bit ISO can boot with BIOS or UEFI.
The 32-bit ISO can only boot with BIOS.
The 64-bit ISO is recommend for all modern computers (Almost all computers sold in the last 10 years are equipped with 64-bit processors).
What do I think about Window$??? Just take a look at my AVATAR...
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Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by Tomgin5 »

A lady at chrch last week in her 70's somewhere is the church coordinator for the prayer chain. For windex reasons her son kept her updated monthly with antivirus etc... She keeps getting the latest ransomware or bugs and is forever getting continuous updates. Most of the bugs she gets she passes on to the other church members.
I stepped in with a resurrected scraptop HP DV6 with a 700Gig HDD and 4 gig of ram. I went to her apartment and set her up with LM Cinnamon 18,1 with the 4.4.0-78.99 kernel. Skype for Linux 5.0 beta,
The install blew her away when I loaded her address book just like it was in Outlook express. I then told her no more virus' or ransomware. "If you
think something is not right just hit the "OFF" button, then restart.
I spent the next hour going over everything and told her to call me if she had a problem. She is happy and she called her executive son and he asked me to come and convert his company computers over to the same package.
The next day I did and I converted 15 over from Windex 10. I moved the personal files over one at a time and showed each user how it worked. He wanted to pay me but I told him to send it to Linux as a donation. I think I saved him at least $15K in AV and Winoffice fees.
We will see.
mariad_10

Re: My mom is 70 and is thinking about going with Linux Mint. She's on the fence. What should I tell her to convince her

Post by mariad_10 »

BG405 wrote:
mariad_10 wrote:With the recent cyber attack i have lost my trust in Windows
The recent, highly publicized (at least in the UK) ransomware infections are resulting in a lot more people considering switching to Linux, which can only be a good thing. It may be what encouraged her to ask. The more this sort of thing appears in the headlines, the more people will discover the benefits of Linux.

That is definitely true, the farther the exposure farther is going to be the diversion from windows and movement towards Linux. The trust i was talking about since i lost all the data i had. I had to start all over again with just one lucky file i had on my docs.
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