Computer Help and Support

My brother the computer know-nothing got tired of every windows patch or update killing his peripherals, so he had to re-install drivers regularly. He threw in the towel and got an Ubuntu Linux system from Dell, fully supported.

He rarely needs new programs, but I point him, and others, to excellent apps for photo management, image processing, word processing and on and on.

He has no need for "niche" software though most windows apps will probably run with Crossover or the free version, called WINE, that emulates Windows. With highly advanced virtualization these days, you can run most anything on most anything.

Depends on how much or little you like the OS vendor nagging you and making unwelcome decisions for you.

Good news is that he never bugs me these days for anything.

I have run and installed Knoppix from DVD media via a USB optical drive. They are so generic that a used one or a loaner will boot up pretty much any system. 9.1 is the latest release. And you can order a DVD shipped (MS won't do that!) for as little as $1.95 worldwide or a thumb drive for as little as $14.95. Download is free, but you have to copy to media
USB drive: https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-burn-an-iso-file-to-a-usb-drive-2619270
DVD drive: https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-burn-an-iso-image-file-to-a-dvd-2626156

Mint is great. I installed it on many low-end PC's. Recommended for low-memory and disk computers.