One of my aunts is having some computer trouble and needs a new OS. She's in her late 50s, mentally ill, and can't really adapt to changes. She's also in another country, so I can't just drive over and deal with her computer myself. Anyway, here's my question.

My aunt's computer still runs Windows XP and because support ended she's running into some problems (most of which are probably in her head, but I can't fix that either). She doesn't know how to get Windows 7 and from what she told me (leaving aside the part where she's convinced that "somebody" is accessing her computer remotely) the IT guy she saw said he can't get her Windows 7 and wants her to upgrade to Windows 8, which I'm pretty sure can't even run on her computer.

Is there a distro that's suitable for somebody who won't be able to learn how to use the terminal? I think that basically all she should need is Chrome/Firefox and LibreOffice. Maybe Mint could work? I haven't tried MATE or KDE. Does either of those work more like XP's desktop than Cinnamon? I'm looking for something that's as close to foolproof as possible...

Thanks in advance.

A Puppy Linux live CD will run snappy on an XP era PC. It includes Firefox, Abiword, and Gnumeric. Puppy Linux comes in several flavors. I am partial to Slacko. http://puppylinux.org/

Mint tries to make its interface friendly to persons new to Linux. It could well be a good choice.

Do you know what the specs of her computer are, particularly the CPU chipset and the amount of RAM?

Xubuntu might be more suited for her. Xfce is very Windows-like and works well.

Hmmm, what do you guys think of installing and running https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...ed-4175547803/

for a computer illiterate person? No big updates. I bet browser updates through the browser. Easy JWM interface that is low on resources.

Just wondering? I need to give this one a try on one of my netbooks I guess.

Computer Illiterate covers a lot of turf.

http://www.mepiscommunity.org/mx

Lots of good videos on the l/h side bar at the above site for learners.

Edit: Thowing this out here also

http://www.microlinux.fr/

Based on Slackware. Pretty rock solid.

That would tempt me to think that this might be a case where the change to Linux might be more trouble than it is worth. Your call!

If the IT guy is saying that 8 is the way to go, ensure that he is aware that if it doesn't work, he doesn't get paid. That should concentrate the mind.

C/F & LO will be available for any distro. The most difficult thing to sort will be which GUI. If you get that right, the distro doesn't matter so much, and it may even eliminate some of the distros.

KDE is a bit more like Win, philosophically, but is a bit heavy and has options for everything. That might be a bit much.
XFCE is probably easier to recommend, being a little lighter and and little less config-heavy.

Given that this could happen, I'm not regarding there as being evidence, either way.

Before you do anything irreversible, ensure that there is a good backup.

Biggest question seems to be how to get the new system (whatever it is) installed. Do you pay her a visit, or find someone to install it? Would the "someone" give her instructions and help-desk assistance?

I once ran ZorinOS 9.1 Core, which was a whole lot more feature-rich than most "core" distros, and it could be made to look a lot like Windows (XP or 7). A bit slow on less than a GB memory, but probably familiar in that way as well ;-)