Best Alternative to Windows (XP)

[ptitSeb]

The XFCE Edition of Mint as it too (the start button and desktop and behavour like Windows)

 

[FBnil]

Do the XFCE version and the others not have this

Most stuff is configurable anyway so you can change it completely, but for least amount of re-configuration out of the box...

examples:

vanilla G-nome has a start button and bar at the top (and you can not drag and drop it as in Windows to get it to another place, iirc).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNOME#/media/File:Gnome-3.18.2-showing-overview.png


XFCE has a a fat bar at the bottom, but only in the center.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfce#/media/File:Xfce_on_freebsd.png


And don't get me started with KDE, which has automatic fullscreen when you drag a window and accidentally touch the top. Or hotzones for activities, which change and put stuff on the screen that you've never seen (granted, we are all tech savvy here, so we know how to press escape to get out... but imagine your grandparents facing that hurdle....)

 

[rygD]

Plus it allows for desktop icons, put all start thingies there, etc

Does anyone else here dislike desktop icons? I always disable them because I still use the directory and don't want a trashy looking desktop.

But, yeah, things like that and a start menu where the user expects it (usually somewhere on the right side for me) helps make new things seem more familiar.
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G-nome

 

[FBnil]

Yeah... pronounciation should be genome, and be written Gnome... so I sometimes write G-nome as a compromise...

 

[rygD]

Oh. I thought it was like GNU. I just liked that you typed it in such a way as to draw attention to the G being pronounced (regardless of if I was wrong). I always want to correct people who say nome, but I usually bite my tongue.

It doesn't matter, really, as I usually go for either KDE or Xfce, with a few others I have used in the past (Gnome was one of them, but not for long) and many more I want to try in the future.

For open source and libre projects, if everyone knows/agrees how to say it you are doing it wrong.

 

[Klumpen]

And don't get me started with KDE, which has automatic fullscreen when you drag a window and accidentally touch the top. Or hotzones for activities, which change and put stuff on the screen that you've never seen (granted, we are all tech savvy here, so we know how to press escape to get out... but imagine your grandparents facing that hurdle....)

Mint's Mate edition does this too by now and it's annoying indeed.
Do you know where I can turn it off?

 

[thatgui]

Exact Audio Copy (that's what I used in Windows too) -> Asunder (way superior)

Thanks !

on Topic:
Depending on how "flexible" they are on adapting to other design/usage paradigms: Linux Mint (in some Edition). What Office version are they using ? If its a "Ribbon Version" they may not be happy with LibreOffice, but MSOffice usually runs without problems through Wine. If they aren't very flexible I would recommend Windows 7 as usage paradigms changed a lot in Win 8/10. Unless you already have a license lying around already, I would recommend waiting the few months till MS ceases to offer the free upgrade, by that time used Win7/8 License prices will get back to a normal level again.

 

[frefol]

Mint's Mate edition does this too by now and it's annoying indeed.
Do you know where I can turn it off?

I just looked this up since it sometimes bothers me too and you can turn it off. They call it tiling. Just go to Control Center -> Windows. Then go to the Placement tab and uncheck "Enable side by side tiling"

 

[TrashyMG]

Windows 98 SE is pretty good, I'm SURE it has a backports repository right?

 

[Blue Shadow]

And don't get me started with KDE, which has automatic fullscreen when you drag a window and accidentally touch the top. Or hotzones for activities, which change and put stuff on the screen that you've never seen (granted, we are all tech savvy here, so we know how to press escape to get out... but imagine your grandparents facing that hurdle....)

To be fair, these are also default behaviours in some Windows versions after XP.

@Ian J
II think wenn it comes to the best suited look & feel, that would'nt be too much a matter of the distro, but a matter of how you configuered it, as you have to install it anyways.
I don't know about your own linux experience, depending on that, the easiest distro might be the one that you are already knowing, even it is not considered a "beginner-friendly one". Simply because you know it, know how to configure it the best way to be suitable for your parents and are rather able to help with problems.

That said, I just discovered MX Linux some days ago - a reunion of Mepis Linux and AntiX. It is based on Debian stable, suitable to run on older PCs and comes with XFCE as Default. It uses the normal Debian Repos and some additional sources for backports and other stuff.
And - It has a tool to reconfigure the XFCE panel per mouse-click, to get a horizontal panel with the menu button at the top left corner
There are also some nice tools like saving the installed system as an ISO.

All in all, it looks like a pretty good combination of debian compatibility and "beginner-friendlyness".

 

[levi]

And don't get me started with KDE, which has automatic fullscreen when you drag a window and accidentally touch the top.

xfce4 introduced that to xfce as well I think, along with nice things like autohiding panels that only actually hide if you put a window over them (which is what most of my panels are currently set to be doing). You can disable the auto fullscreen thing in window manager tweaks, tab=accessibility, though.

 

[Klumpen]

I just looked this up since it sometimes bothers me too and you can turn it off. They call it tiling. Just go to Control Center -> Windows. Then go to the Placement tab and uncheck "Enable side by side tiling"

It worked, thanks a lot!