> Or switch them to Linux. For browsing/mail it's perfect.
My dad switched to Xubuntu a few years ago and has been singing praise of it ever since. It's a pretty straight forward desktop environment that isn't prone to frequent radical changes like some other DEs. I think it's an ideal DE for somebody with basic browsing/mail requirements.
Seconding this. Literally 99% of what many old people need to do with a computer can be accomplished with xubuntu/xfce desktop environment (which is now a traditionally comfortable GUI similar to windows 98/2000), and inside a browser like Firefox. Install ublock origin and a few other common sense plugins.
Thanks. This makes a lot of sense. Hopefully they will go for it. Next time I'm down in the Bay Area I will definitely try converting them and it sounds like it might be the best solution for me to be able to remotely assist with their computing needs. With the aging demographic in this country, I'd imagine there is some real opportunity for someone to create more tools to help those of us looking for solutions to help our parents navigate their safe computing / IT needs remotely.
My dad switched to Xubuntu a few years ago and has been singing praise of it ever since. It's a pretty straight forward desktop environment that isn't prone to frequent radical changes like some other DEs. I think it's an ideal DE for somebody with basic browsing/mail requirements.