Used to build “little old lady” computers for neighbors and such. Say someone gave me their shit PC to fix. Fine. Throw in whatever extra hardware I had, clean it up, new thermal paste and whatnot, small SSD, Linux Lite, Chrome, “Here’s how you get email and internet.” Never once heard from them again.
Here’s the secret sauce; I never once mentioned “linux” or even began explaining what I had done. No need to talk OS, it was “windows” to them! I was there to fix computers, not evangelize.
As long as you “put the internet on the desktop”, most boomers won’t know the difference. I got my dad a new laptop and he asked me to “install Google maps on it”. I put firefox on his desktop and changed the icon to a Microsoft Edge icon and that was easier to do than try to explain what a browser is and that he should use a different one.
Yeah I’ve taken ubuntu and themed it like Windows XP for people. The only problem that came up was when one of them wanted to use their 1990s GPS software. I showed them google maps on their phone and they were thrilled.
Used to build “little old lady” computers for neighbors and such. Say someone gave me their shit PC to fix. Fine. Throw in whatever extra hardware I had, clean it up, new thermal paste and whatnot, small SSD, Linux Lite, Chrome, “Here’s how you get email and internet.” Never once heard from them again.
Here’s the secret sauce; I never once mentioned “linux” or even began explaining what I had done. No need to talk OS, it was “windows” to them! I was there to fix computers, not evangelize.
As long as you “put the internet on the desktop”, most boomers won’t know the difference. I got my dad a new laptop and he asked me to “install Google maps on it”. I put firefox on his desktop and changed the icon to a Microsoft Edge icon and that was easier to do than try to explain what a browser is and that he should use a different one.
Yeah I’ve taken ubuntu and themed it like Windows XP for people. The only problem that came up was when one of them wanted to use their 1990s GPS software. I showed them google maps on their phone and they were thrilled.
My dad once had trouble with Internet explorer crashing a computer in an auto shop he was working in.
I installed chrome which worked much better but he would not stop trying to open the Internet explorer icon.
Changed the chrome icon to IE icon. Problem solved. Lol
Yes! I’ve forged the icon more than once. “Just as ever, click the blue ‘E’”.
I am unable to source the quote.
“Do you want to be correct, or do you want results?”.
I had a boomer drop off a laptop after Win7 got updated to 8. Post-it note read: “I’m used to Windows with the “e”. Is Windows even on here?”