As a Teacher of Windows and Ubuntu to the elderly, Ubuntu Mate 16.04 is by far the best people friendly distro. It is so much like the 6.04-10.04 that we all used to love but with all the new bells and whistles. I get more complaints that Mint its a little harder to find stuff in. I'm close to 70 and don't program. Most of my students are older than I. Thanks to all of the Linux family everywhere for making life so great at our age.
If you are an Older Person it is very hard to click the tiny Icon with shaky hands. Unusable is exactly what happens. I know because I teach computers to Old people and 28 and 29 has been a PITA. You will be old some day. Ergonomics is a must.The internet is not for just young people.
Just setup Grandma (Mom) with Ubuntu Unity and 4 Large Icons on the sidebar. She is 89 and never used a computer but commented that it didn't look too hard. As simple as the setup is she is reluctant to use it. I teach windows to old people (146 on the list) and have 17 in Ubuntu class that started last week. Its a start. Unity fits the older gen thats never click the screen and its reliabile. The computer club has about 75% still using XP so I'm hoping the Ubuntu class grows real soon.
Yes, Microsoft is in decline because of history and now the cloud.
The internet has given us information about companies for years, good and bad. MS's history track record has shown us a lot of bad things nerds don't like: Requested Backdoors, holes that make it easy to attack with scripts, wonderful DRM, Trusted computing, UEFI BIOS and a LIVE Cloud based OS that pours your every day life, up to the minute on the Start screen right in your face all in bright coloured ugly boxes.
The desktop where you used to have your wallpaper that showed you photos that you cherished, like mother that had just passed away or the trip you took to the top of a volcano or scuba diving off the islands or your favourite game background. Your temporary sanity instantly removed at start-up by MS before the long tedious job ahead clicking or rubbing the screen for 8, 10 or 16 hours.
Most Slashdot nerds don't like the cloud or finger prints but they use it. They want their own cloud at home and not at Microsoft. Oh, here is the new Windows 8, setup your identity with all of your emails and proceed to the next screen and we will full-fill your every wish on the new Start Desktop.
MS got in trouble years ago when they allowed outsiders tell them how to do their business, the Federal and local government, the Movie and Recording Industry and worst of all, the Advertising Industry and not to miss mentioning crapping all over their hardware suppliers.
Acer has every right in the world to hold off on the MS monopoly BS and the impact on their products. Hats off to Acer, you found some balls. Too bad the others haven't followed you!
These changes above has also effected Linux and Apple machines. MS is doing everything to limit the damage caused by these other two wonderful Operating System's but can't seem to stop them. Linux and Apple phones and tablets have taken over Microsoft’s grip. Android has made Linux number 1 today and most people don't realise android is Linux.
Linux is NOW and MS knows it. With PlayOnLinux, you can run.exe files in Ubuntu and it works great. Canonical is going in the right direction and their product is getting very easy to use. Apple too, even with their overpriced hardware. Canonical needs to make a simple easy to set-up Ubuntu Personal Cloud for the Home and stop wasting to much money buying hard drives for their cloud. Ubuntu One is fine but keep at 5 gigs. Home is where the heart is.
Intel is feeling the pinch. ARM is the future. AMD is on the rocks and this sucks too. I personally have tried to contact AMD to show the how stack computer chips but no reply. IBM has just developed on-chip liquid cooling and I can show them how to stack them. Contact me.
Good Luck MS especially after destroying the desktop. I'm not at all afraid to say, I won't miss you, been a ride for 18 years, I have moved on and not looking back.
Maybe after MS is gone we can progress and expand our knowledge and the computer.
A special thanks to the free minded people around the world for writing code. You are tied for second place with Scientists only after Doctors and Nurses that devote their lives to saving humanity.
If this enables vehicles to go 33% farther on a tank of fuel, Gasoline tax base will have to change to make up for the loses. Catch 22 for the State or more pot holes.
Mark, You violated what Linux is "FREEDOM". The timing of Gnome3 couldn't have been worst when the Whole World is in an uproar about Freedom, Choice and Dictators. When you strip people of their freedoms you better expect a backlash.
Thankfully, 10.04 LTS is still available for Netbooks, Laptops and real Penguin Tower's driving the motor that powers the Internet.
Unity is a Tablet, and Phone software release, nothing else in our view from the outside.
Slashdot Mirror
As a Teacher of Windows and Ubuntu to the elderly, Ubuntu Mate 16.04 is by far the best people friendly distro. It is so much like the 6.04-10.04 that we all used to love but with all the new bells and whistles. I get more complaints that Mint its a little harder to find stuff in. I'm close to 70 and don't program. Most of my students are older than I. Thanks to all of the Linux family everywhere for making life so great at our age.
If you are an Older Person it is very hard to click the tiny Icon with shaky hands. Unusable is exactly what happens. I know because I teach computers to Old people and 28 and 29 has been a PITA. You will be old some day. Ergonomics is a must.The internet is not for just young people.
Just setup Grandma (Mom) with Ubuntu Unity and 4 Large Icons on the sidebar. She is 89 and never used a computer but commented that it didn't look too hard. As simple as the setup is she is reluctant to use it. I teach windows to old people (146 on the list) and have 17 in Ubuntu class that started last week. Its a start. Unity fits the older gen thats never click the screen and its reliabile. The computer club has about 75% still using XP so I'm hoping the Ubuntu class grows real soon.
You haven't read the latest. UEFI has been broken and claimed to be easy. here is the link http://www.neowin.net/news/new-proof-of-concept-bootkit-targets-uefi-and-windows-8
Yes, Microsoft is in decline because of history and now the cloud. The internet has given us information about companies for years, good and bad. MS's history track record has shown us a lot of bad things nerds don't like: Requested Backdoors, holes that make it easy to attack with scripts, wonderful DRM, Trusted computing, UEFI BIOS and a LIVE Cloud based OS that pours your every day life, up to the minute on the Start screen right in your face all in bright coloured ugly boxes. The desktop where you used to have your wallpaper that showed you photos that you cherished, like mother that had just passed away or the trip you took to the top of a volcano or scuba diving off the islands or your favourite game background. Your temporary sanity instantly removed at start-up by MS before the long tedious job ahead clicking or rubbing the screen for 8, 10 or 16 hours. Most Slashdot nerds don't like the cloud or finger prints but they use it. They want their own cloud at home and not at Microsoft. Oh, here is the new Windows 8, setup your identity with all of your emails and proceed to the next screen and we will full-fill your every wish on the new Start Desktop. MS got in trouble years ago when they allowed outsiders tell them how to do their business, the Federal and local government, the Movie and Recording Industry and worst of all, the Advertising Industry and not to miss mentioning crapping all over their hardware suppliers. Acer has every right in the world to hold off on the MS monopoly BS and the impact on their products. Hats off to Acer, you found some balls. Too bad the others haven't followed you! These changes above has also effected Linux and Apple machines. MS is doing everything to limit the damage caused by these other two wonderful Operating System's but can't seem to stop them. Linux and Apple phones and tablets have taken over Microsoft’s grip. Android has made Linux number 1 today and most people don't realise android is Linux. Linux is NOW and MS knows it. With PlayOnLinux, you can run .exe files in Ubuntu and it works great. Canonical is going in the right direction and their product is getting very easy to use. Apple too, even with their overpriced hardware. Canonical needs to make a simple easy to set-up Ubuntu Personal Cloud for the Home and stop wasting to much money buying hard drives for their cloud. Ubuntu One is fine but keep at 5 gigs. Home is where the heart is.
Intel is feeling the pinch. ARM is the future. AMD is on the rocks and this sucks too. I personally have tried to contact AMD to show the how stack computer chips but no reply. IBM has just developed on-chip liquid cooling and I can show them how to stack them. Contact me.
Good Luck MS especially after destroying the desktop. I'm not at all afraid to say, I won't miss you, been a ride for 18 years, I have moved on and not looking back.
Maybe after MS is gone we can progress and expand our knowledge and the computer.
A special thanks to the free minded people around the world for writing code. You are tied for second place with Scientists only after Doctors and Nurses that devote their lives to saving humanity.
If this enables vehicles to go 33% farther on a tank of fuel, Gasoline tax base will have to change to make up for the loses. Catch 22 for the State or more pot holes.
Mark, You violated what Linux is "FREEDOM". The timing of Gnome3 couldn't have been worst when the Whole World is in an uproar about Freedom, Choice and Dictators. When you strip people of their freedoms you better expect a backlash. Thankfully, 10.04 LTS is still available for Netbooks, Laptops and real Penguin Tower's driving the motor that powers the Internet. Unity is a Tablet, and Phone software release, nothing else in our view from the outside.