viernes, 29 de julio de 2016

Mom's New Computer: a Zombie PC!

Mechatotoro and I bought a new desktop PC for our mother, who wanted to replace her old box.

We went to the computer store and asked for a barebone rig.  The guy was quite amused to hear about people who did not want to add Windows.  He was a bit puzzled when he heard we would load Linux to it.  I guess he would fall off his seat if he knew the computer was not for us, but for our mother!

Then, we made a test.  Just to check for compatibility (new PCs come with UEFI, which does not play fair with Linux all the time), I took my outdated live MEPIS 11 pendrive and tried to install the OS.

About 5 minutes later, the installation was done and the store guy was amazed at the speed of the process.  "Linux has improved a lot these days!" was all he could say.

But remember: this was Mother's computer.  She should not be using an old MEPIS 11 OS to power her brand new PC.  Now, I have nothing against MEPIS 11: after all, I am typing this on my MEPIS 8 PC.

But the idea of the new computer was also having a new OS.  "What about Windows 10?", I asked her.  To put it diplomatically, let's just say she did not like the idea.

Then, after some thought, we installed MX-15.  Mechatotoro then customized the desktop with a full theme of THE WALKING DEAD that he designed for the occasion (Yes... Mom's a BIG fan of that show.)

The result?  Our mother couldn't be happier with her new spooky PC!  That surely gives a new meaning to zombie computers!

When I see Mom sitting happily in front of her computer, I think that all those people who claim Linux is too hard and that only computer geeks can use it are still living in the past, and a very distant one, by the way.  They might have missed one --or several-- important upgrades.

Too bad for them!  While they catch up, our mother will be using her zombie PC that runs MX-15 (an OS she had never touched before) and does EVERYTHING she wants.

What about Mom's old computer? Mom gave it to Mechatotoro's daughter so that the 5-year-old girl may use PicarOS (a GalPon MiniNo edition special for kids) to her heart's content.

Everyone's happy!  :)

6 comentarios:

  1. Zombie PC redefined! No doubt, Mom is thrilled with her MX-15 computer. She feels she OWNS the computer, not the other way around. And my daughter is enjoying her new machine, too.

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    1. Yes, it is very gratifying to see them enjoy their new computers :)

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  2. It's a good thing she rejected Microsoft Windows 10, otherwise she might have ended up with an ACTUAL zombie PC (doing this of the volition of someone else, not herself).
    --
    a Linux Mint user since 2009 May 1

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    1. Yes; and with all the GWX issues, I don't understand how some people still seem not to realize that MS Windows has become practically malware.

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  3. It's good to know that your mom and nice are enjoying their new computers. I don't know why the salespeople in computer stores get amused when people ask for a computer without Windows. Not all people like it. :P

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    1. Yes, they do! And with the new Android-capable Chromebooks, more people will find Windows too troublesome for their computing needs.

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