[NTLUG:Discuss] The New User Experience

[Ralph Green, Jr.]

Howdy,
  A virus seems likely, but it could be operator error.  There are some
that target Adaware and spybot.  The fact that they disappeared is what
makes me suspect a virus.
  In the short run, if you install windows for her, at least try to get
her to stop using the two apps which are the cause of most problems.
They are IE and Outlook.  Install a firewall, if you don't have one.
Put in at least 256 meg of ram.  If you want to move here to Linux, try
to make it easy for her.  Xandros seems to be a distro that Windows
users feel comfortable with.  It is not my favorite distro, but it is
OK.  And, I realize that I am not their target.  They are going after
Windows users.  If you really want to impress her, try setting up XPDE,
and she will feel right at home.
  The Fry's $200 specials are a mixed bag.  Sometimes, they seem OK, if
not stellar.  But, sometimes I think they are junk.  We look at Fry's
most months after the NTLUG meetings.  The $200 special varies depending
on what they can buy cheap this month.  Last month, they had a quite
decent motherbard and CPU combo for $80 and you could build a decent
$200 system with them  Who knows about this month?  Inexpensive is good,
but buying junk computers is rarely a good idea.  I would be more likely
to suggest a good used Dell for under $200.  I don't know her needs, so
it is kind of hard to say exactly.
  And for the any other issue question, let me suggest you spend more
time with the Linux group.  After laying down the law like that, you
will be on your own more and you might as well put the time to good
use.  ;-)

Good luck,
Ralph 

On Wed, 2005-01-12 at 13:05 -0600, lonny.dahl at verizon.com wrote:
> My wife is driving me crazy with her Win98 box.  So much so, I laid down
> the law yesterday when I came home from work and found that almost all the
> ...
> but if she wants a M$ OS and she screws it up again, she's on her own.
> I've been trying to wean her over to Linux to no avail, although after
> ...
> movements...but what about data miners, etc?  Is Linux currently (I say
> currently because as Linux gets more press and wide use, I'm sure they'll
> find ways to exploit it too) protected from that sore of thing?  Is there
> any issue with that I should be aware of?