Ask Slashdot: What OS For a Donated Computer?

Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday August 9, 2011 @09:09PM from the free-and-tax-deductible-software dept.

chefwear writes "I am thinking of donating retired computers to a local charity for kids. What OS do you think would be best for this? From reading tips regarding the donation of computers, it's widely recommended to keep with the currently installed OS (which is Windows XP in this case). Since XP will be unsupported in about two years, I'm not sure I would be setting the little ones up for success. Would anyone suggest donating a computer with a Linux distro like Ubuntu to a local charity for kids?"

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Re:Depends for what by zget · 2011-08-09 21:52 · Score: 1, Flamebait

Most of games and educational software is Windows only. It would be stupid to change licensed XP to Linux distro (and don't start with wine, there's no way kids know how to use it and play around with the system). Just leave the XP on it, it's the best option. Ending support doesn't really mean anything, the system will still function just like before. Two years is a long time in kids life anyway.

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