Linux Mint for old people?

[AOwlNation]

I'm trying to convince my dad to ditch Windows 7 and switch to Mint. He’s never used Linux before, and I’m not considering Ubuntu. I’ve never used Mint myself, but I’ve heard a lot about how user-friendly it is. Should I go for it or not?

[#4o4__Sk1LL_NoT_FoUnD]

Originally posted by AOwlNation:

I'm trying to convince my dad to ditch Windows 7 and switch to Mint. He’s never used Linux before, and I’m not considering Ubuntu. I’ve never used Mint myself, but I’ve heard a lot about how user-friendly it is. Should I go for it or not?

all our old customers that we got to use linux, have mint installed. they don't really have any problems. my dad and mom also uses mint as their systems.

[Zyro]

I installed Debian for my mother-in-law once. She doesn't care what's below her programs, she didn't even know what a "Windows" is. The distribution doesn't matter for them, you'll be the admin anyway, right?

I chose KDE by the way, because look and feel do matter.

[malkien]

I moved my old parents to Mint from Windows over 7 years ago. I chose the MATE desktop because it would be familiar to them. Very low maintenance since then. No complaints.
To them it's all the same, and it runs on the same old laptop ever since.

[skinnyraf]

While Mint is probably great, too, my dad has been using Ubuntu for 6 years now, no problem.

[DonMcK]

Mint with the Cinnamon desktop would be easiest to move to, it can be made to look almost identical to the WIn desktop layout they currently use but with a way more useful start menu.

[grzegorz77]

Mint will definitely be a good choice.
But in my case, for older people (70+), for some reason I don't understand, pop os works great.
Debian lxde also works great on an old laptop, if you will be administering it. Such a separate computer, only for payments.
These are my experiences.

[Lynsk]

Installed Ubuntu-Mint with Cinnamon to a desktop for my mother in law almost 3y ago, no problems.

[i_nive]

Desktop UI so uniform nowadays that flavor doesn't matter. Windows, Mac, Phone -- it doesn't matter. Is it good or bad thing? I stopped caring years ago. Just stick to a distro (Fedora in my case) and let life go on.

Edit: FWIW, I've been using xDesktop for so many years I'll gasp "Oh, come on, launch me a browser" when desktop becomes 3D.

[HighBall]

Just make the thumbdrive installer. You don't have to install immediately. You can choose the option to Try and you will get a desktop. Everything will run from RAM. Easy way to get your feet wet before being serious and installing.

[Bloo Alien]

Originally posted by Zyro:

I chose KDE by the way, because look and feel do matter.

That's been my experience with "older" folk on Linux as well. As long as that "look and feel" fits well with what they expect from a desktop (something "Windows-like" for those familiar with the Windows desktop, or "Mac-like" for the Apple users), they generally adapt pretty easily to what few minor differences there might be. Just take a moment to show them the most important differences (like the graphical package manager / "app store", etc) and you're generally "golden" from there.

[D. Flame]

Moved my parents to Mint Cinnamon and they had no issues. I use it on my daily laptop too.

[Chaosolous]

I switched from Windows 10 to Linux Mint Cinnamon about a month ago or so.

I'm not like a PC super genius but I did know how to use my Windows OS really well. I had been using Windows since 3.1 or whatever, when my PC still had a dualboot into DOS option.

Switching over to Linux Mint has been extremely user-friendly. If you can use Windows with any competency then you should be able to use Linux. There are a few things that you might need to look up, but finding answers has been easy enough.

Ultimately, it depends what your father uses his PC for. If it's just basic old person PC stuff like browsing Facebook AI Art and playing Solitaire, he should be fine.

[Zyro]

Originally posted by Chaosolous:

I switched from Windows 10 to Linux Mint Cinnamon about a month ago or so.

Welcome!

Originally posted by Chaosolous:

I'm not like a PC super genius but I did know how to use my Windows OS really well. I had been using Windows since 3.1 or whatever, when my PC still had a dualboot into DOS option.

That might actually be one of the toughest points to start from. People tend to think they know everything about computers, when actually, they know a lot about Windows. Being confronted with stuff they do not know about, many people seem to blame the problems on Linux instead of just realizing their knowledge is incomplete and enlarging it.

[grzegorz77]

It seems to me that the most difficult thing is to change your thinking.
Understanding the idea on which Linux is built (eg. small specialized applications, everything is a file).

Here is a nice topic to start with, for an experienced windows user:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/221410/discussions/0/4840896974228634935/
(Help for new people to Linux?)

[Zef]

Originally posted by AOwlNation:

I'm trying to convince my dad to ditch Windows 7 and switch to Mint. He’s never used Linux before, and I’m not considering Ubuntu. I’ve never used Mint myself, but I’ve heard a lot about how user-friendly it is. Should I go for it or not?

Depends, old people usually don't like change so what i would do is is setup a "test" environment so he can try it out.

Also depends on what he uses application wise, if it's just like basic office / facebook type of setup you could install him libre or wps office and transfer all his bookmarks, if he has any third party software it's up to you to either look for open source alternatives or whether it can be run through wine/lutris/proton.