Keeping it very simple

Hello-
With WIndows Xp fading, I want to get my mom, in her mid-80's, using a system I don't have to worry about and I can support from long distance. Here is her situation:

She uses DIALUP email and almost nothing else, though rarely, she has to use a a word processor and attach a word document to an email. (Dialup because it's all she has available and affordable where she lives.) She's familiar with Thunderbird so that's good. But she is really not (I mean really, really!) not a computer person and I have hour and a half long "tech support" phone calls to do the simplest things.

I have never used any linux but I have played a bit today with Zorin live and like it, especially the XP "look". I expect to try dual boot on my home computer and will eventually learn it well enough to help my mom by phone. However, I'd like to hear from experienced users on these issues:

Can I anticipate setting up dialup to be easy and reliable?

Can the Windows XP Look be made to actually look the same or similar, with the background changed? She gets thrown off by change.

She tends to press a mouse left-click a relatively long time before the second click; XP doesn't respond and she gets frustrated. She can live with that but is there any option to help in that situation?

Does anyone else here have any similar experience with an elderly user who is also intimidated by computers? I'd be interested in hearing any tips you may have.

Thanks for your ideas.
Derek

Hi Derek,

for dialup, you would have to set it up manually:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/ADSLPPPoE

https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/installat ... pppoe.html

You cannot really do much more than you alrady have in the way of looks for Zorin OS, I would use Zorin Lite as it has a very simple interface and you can't do much wrong with it!, it is based on Lubuntu:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4835

see also:

http://lubuntu.net/

Backgrounds can be pasted into the main Zorin Lite picture folder of right clicked from any location!.

Any other questions can be posted on the forum in the help & support section!.

You may also want to take a look at LXLE (supported until April 2017) and it comes with PPPoE already present. (http://lxle.net)

Thanks to you both- I'll be at my Mom's soon and will try things out. I appreciate your guidance.
Derek

many apologies - pppoe is NOT included in LXLE! CentOS 6.5 has KPPP for dial up (red hat based distro) - will have to get back to you on others!

Just found this - hope it helps:

http://www.lampdocs.com/pppoe-connection/