My father bought his first computer a few weeks back. They had given a free Ubuntu 7.10 CD, but had not installed any operating system. My guess is that they hadn’t installed Linux on the computers is that they expected the users to install pirated Windows on purchase. When companies give computers with Windows preinstalled, why can’t they install Ubuntu, which is faster and easier to install?

Anyways, upon my recommendation, my father decided to install Linux. And right now, he’s browsing and listen to Carnatic music on Rhythmbox. And he’s safe online. Nothing can really hurt his computer, he won’t have crashes and so, won’t have to wait for the engineer to come and fix his computer. He thinks Firefox, OpenOffice.org, spell check and stuff are really easy to use, but needs to get used to the cut-copy-paste thingy.

So if your parents are buying a new computer or are having trouble with their Windows installation, I’d suggest that you install an easy to use Linux distro like Ubuntu on their computer. Please don’t try to teach them all things you do to keep viruses away from your windows computer, they’d find learning a new operating system much easier.