I am trying to integrate my parents into the 21st century by introducing them to the world wide web. They have absolutely no prior knowledge of anything related to computers (No windows, mac, linux experience). I have found that Windows XP can be a little harder to use than some Linux distros out there so I don't want to go with XP. I was thinking that Xandros might be a good fit for them. Ubunto/Suse seems a little too complicated for them...I am fairly new to linux myself so I am not completely familiar with all that's out there and am in need of some guidance. My primary objective is to have them be able to browse websites and use some office apps like word/excel. This is on an older system, here are the specs:

P4 2.8 Ghz
512 mb DDR (will most likely upgrade to 1-2 gb if need be)
40 Gbs HD space
Integrated graphics

I have tried Ubuntu, OpenSuse, Kubuntu, Xubuntu, Xandros, Mint, and Mandrake myself. I have found that Xandros is the most Uber-Noob friendly among those distros. It also runs very smoothly on low end systems so that's always a plus. Beyond these distros though, I am completely clueless and I would greatly appreciate any and all suggestions, Thanks!

What I suggest is that you use Kubuntu. Set up desktop icons for FireFox, OpenOffice, kwrite, kfmclient, sylpheed, gnucash, and konsole. You might want one for synaptic until you get the system set up the way you want.

Teach your parents to use those applications and they will be all set.

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Steve Stites

The thing about Kubuntu is that it's not that far away from XP and if I wanted to move the common aps to the desktop, I could just use XP to do the same thing. Personally, I find that Xandros is very intuitive for a first time user. For most of us regular users, things like double clicking and going through file systems doesn't seem like much but my parents are really clueless.

I'm not sure how any version of Linux could be easier than Ubuntu. Lots of online help should you/they need it, repositories are massive, and will probably more than meet their needs.

I'm not a huge fan of Kubuntu, and prefer Ubuntu, but I think one of the *buntus is definitely the direction to go. Mint would be my second choice.

Are you picking what you find best, or what they want? It might be best to boot a couple live CD's, let them use them, and see what THEY like. Also what other hardware do they plan on needing? Printer? Cameras? Thats something else to consider in your search.

IGF

There is nothing intuitive about GUIs. There is nothing intuitive about command lines. There is nothing intuitive about menus. If you are teaching a complete newbie to computers then there is nothing intuitive about any of it. So the thing to do is to pick a consistent method of using the computer and teach that with patience.

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Steve Stites