My mother has an old laptop with am Intel core 2 duo and 2 gigs of ram, running Windows XP. It's pretty bloated and she wants to put a new OS on it. I need a distro that's both fast and intuitive for longtime Windows users. What do you guys suggest? She's had bad experiences with Linux in her workplace before, and I'd like to change that opinion.
Edit: I want as little terminal as possible.
The one that immediately comes to mind is Zorin OS. It is able to emulate UI elements of XP, 7, OS X, etc. right out of the box. It's still Linux underneath, but getting the right "look and feel" can help ease the transition.
I recommend Linux Mint for new users. Zorin os does try to look like windows 7 and fails poorly. It comes with too many things bugged up the butt out of the box. Too many things different. While linux mint doesn't try to look like anything I find it is best for new users.
yeah, there is this great OS called windows.
JK. I like using linux,and my mom uses it to an extent. But do yourself a favor and just keep her on windows. Seriously, you can find a direct lookalike and old people will still ask for your help on how to use something because the color is different or the wording is different.
Wipe the hard drive, buy some extra ram off of ebay for a few bucks and stick windows 8 on the machine.
Install a basic start application and disable as much crap as you possibly can. You should get a halfway decent experience and your mom won't be totally lost.
Now stop trolling him. No one should ever use windows 8 under any circumstance. Especially old people.
Put gnome ubuntu, or debian with KDE (kde is very much like windows) or fedora.
Windows 8 + StartIsBack is the best Windows I've ever had.
In terms of the distro, if you are there tech support and are more or less reliable I'd pick the distro you are most comfortable with or knowledgable about, as the transition is always easier with less "ummm..."'s.
As an example I know very little about ubuntu/debian but know a lot about arch, so when my mom got her new computer I put arch linux with xfce on it installed all her games and programs and got everything set up the way she likes it, and 2 years later she loves it although she still thinks its xp (sigh).
That being said Zorin, mint, and ubuntu are good choices for new users.
But the distro is a little less important than the Desktop Environment (DE) as this is what they will see when they use the computer. I would recommend using a desktop like xfce or lxde for two reasons 1) they need fewer resources than gnome or unity and 2) they are easy to theme up to look like win xp or 7.
Thats my 2 cents, still good luck.
Linux Mint 17.1 with Cinnamon
And stay out of Ubuntu unless you want your mum to have an even worse opinion of Linux.
Here come the Mint fanboys!
I recommend Zorin OS @Ott . Having used it myself it does a good job of emulating the look of Windows and if all they do is Microsoft Office and web browsing it'll suit them fine.
I'd go for Windows 7 as it won't EVER throw you in to metro and can be custimized to look like XP (get back 'Start' text, long window names in taskbar, no grouping, Classic theme).
Gnome Ubuntu seems like a bad choice. Full screen start menu and no minimize buttons, worse than 8 by default IMO (thankfully VERY easy to customize to your liking though).
Honestly, if you want Ubuntu for an elderly person, Unity is the way to go. Big buttons on a Windows-like taskbar with a non-full screen start menu.
I'm not a mint fanboy. I've used mint I've used zorin. Mint just works, I was fighting with Zorin every step of the way.
You never recommend anything else.
Looking through your post history it's just consistent recommendation of Mint.
I'm perfectly open to other distros but having used both I can say objectivelly that Mint is better than Zorin.
What other distributions have you tried in the last year?
I tried Linux Mint 17 because of your constant recommendations and it's installer crashed on my laptop. Once I got it installed it was fine but boring.
Although, a problem with Mint is how quickly they force you onto the newest version. I was two versions behind on a machine and it wouldn't install a package....
Somebody recommends a product... he needs to be a fanboy! Great logics ;)
I recommend it since it works with lots of hardware, it looks similar to Windows and it's rock solid. And I'm not talking crap, I'm using Linux since 3 years and they aren't many distros that I haven't tried.
Look through his profile. See if he recommends any other Linux distribution. It's Linux Mint on every thread from what I read of it no matter the purpose that the topic creator was asking for.
Zorin and Mint are both based on Ubuntu. All three are as compatible as each other, don't be silly.
Zorin looks more like Windows and to be honest there are a lot of improvements that Microsoft constantly try to make to the way Windows works. Look at XP and then look at 7, huge improvement with the 'Superbar'. Why not take a risk with your DE and try something like Gnome 3?
So your new at this then? Even I'm new at this and my first distro was Mandriva some 7 years ago.
LOL, believe me I would normally agree with you.
However my big thing is that windows 8 consumes less resources than windows 7 and that is probably going to be a big factor here.
If you really want me to recommend a linux distro, then it would have to be openSUSE with gnome and a dock.
Why openSUSE? It is very easy to set up a user account and assign privileges. and the 1 click install feature makes it simple for any parent to install software when you are not around.
Why gnome with a dock? Well first I would have to say that I would disable the hot corner and the message tray. I would also install a slingshot extension.
Once those requirements at met, then all of her apps are no more than a couple clicks away. The other great thing is that everything is highly visual. What I mean by that is if she needs to use the internet she can click the internet button on the dock. if she needs to use her email, she can click the email button. And so on.