[clug] Recommendation for a Linux Distro to replace Win-XP

[Mike Carden]

Oops, forgot to Reply All:

Steve, I reckon you ought to take a look at https://kororaproject.org/
because the focus of the project is a desktop experience that Just Works
out of the box. You can choose Gnome or KDE and 32 or 64 bit. They're
calling the current version a beta, but really it's not - it's as stable as
the Fedora 18 that it comes from. Aside from its evident excellence, Korora
is a local product and tech support is very close at hand. In fact most
work days I can tap the project lead on the shoulder from my desk. :)

If you can move your friend to Thunderbird, or even to Evolution (I'm told
it's good these days) then he/she will be much better off than with Outlook
Express.

I don't run antivirus on any of my personal linux systems (famous last
words) but if your friend would feel better with it, I have had a good run
with ClamAV on corporate linux systems that I have cared for. I have found
that ClamAV updates are faster in responding to new threats than several
commercial antivirus vendors that I have seen, but as of 2013, the virus
risk to a linux desktop machine is low.

Anything else? I hope you've set 'em up with a nice LCD and a good keyboard
and mouse.

-- 
MC




On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 4:48 PM, steve jenkin <sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au>wrote:

> I have a retired friend who has an old Dell PC (2nd-hand from ANU) and,
> "it works Just Fine" for them. They found the Gmail browser interface
> "confusing", so I needed to setup MS-Outlook with a new account. They've
> sort-of got the hang of that after a few weeks, but it's still a stretch...
>
> They're already using Firefox and Libre Office, so most of the job of
> converting to FOSS is already done.
>
> But they rely on MS-Outlook (Express).
> My first preference is to migrate them to Thunderbird or other FOSS
> email client, but I expect I have to keep
>
> I know from my older friends in Sydney who've happily learned Ubuntu as
> well as they ever knew Win-XP, that these folk can cope well with new
> environments, though do tend to equate Firefox with Linux...
> But that's not a hill I need to defend, only accept and move on.
>
> I'm looking for 3 specific recommendations for the community:
>
>  - A Linux Distro for someone who's "just a user" and used to Win-XP.
>    I'll do the setup & migration, so that's not an issue.
>    - I've normally recommended/installed an Ubuntu LTS,
>      but would like good current options. Fedora is OK with me.
>
>  - A way to run MS-Outlook (Express).
>    Is it stable under WINE and/or CrossOver Office?
>    Or is it "lipstick on a pig" and avoid like the plague?!?!
>
>  - I'd *prefer* to move them to native Linux tools, but only if
>    the change doesn't stress them (i.e. looks/works similarly)
>    I use Thunderbird only because I haven't bothered to
>    look for a replacement. [mutt failed me. don't ask.]
>    - Can you recommend email clients that my friend could try?
>      T'bird vs SeaMonkey?
>      Others?
>    - necessary requirement is to import address book and messages.
>
> My friend already pays for a subscription to a Virus scanning service.
>  - What do they need on popular Linux Distro? [nothing?]
>  - Anything that the community would recommend or warn against?
>
> Thanks in Advance
> steve
>
> PS: I'll probably get her to buy some more (DDR2?) RAM and a small SSD
> disk when I do this :-)
> Be nice to sell the change as "it's faster and better", while allowing
> me to keep the old disk on a shelf as a fail-back. Win-XP is out of
> support in a year...
>
> --
> Steve Jenkin, Info Tech, Systems and Design Specialist.
> 0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915)
> PO Box 48, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA
>
> sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin
> --
> linux mailing list
> linux at lists.samba.org
> https://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/linux
>