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My niece just bought a new low-end Dell Insipron 15" laptop that came with Win8. I'm thinking of wiping the disk clean and installing Win7 on it. Thankfully Dell makes all drivers for this model available for both Win7 and Win8. Just something to consider.
/ravi
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I am going to visit him in November. I will set it up the good way. I am thinking of getting ubuntu if not 7.
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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Those adverts for new laptops are so appealing.
Then I read this and am reminded of the horror of windows. Definitely Ubuntu, but be careful of the graphics chipset; 13.04 has Intel official graphics support via an app, but LTS is no longer supported by this(WTF?).
And if they've moved to UEFI, be sure to choose Ubuntu 64 bit.
Which means no skype in 13.04  !
Did I say 'horror of windows'?
Wait for 13.10 in October. They might have it sorted by then.
Incidentally, I bought a used Elitebook for £160, and installed a terabyte drive. It rumbles along nicely with core2duo.
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He could live with that. He ain't going to use anything else but a browser.
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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Ravi Bhavnani wrote: I'm thinking of wiping the disk clean and installing Win7 on it.
I see no reason to do that, unless your niece will be using the laptop for developing applications.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Do not feed the troll ! - Common proverb
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Given that your brother "is alien to IT World", here's what I'd do ... ymmv ...
... Microsoft Security Essentials is built in to Windows 8, so nothing to do there.
... Make sure Windows Update is set to automatically install security patches and important updates
... Leave UAC in place and educate him about how it works (noting that UAC in Windows 8 is much less intrusive than Vista)
... Install Chrome & VLC Player
... otherwise leave it alone (specifically avoiding any of the third party start buttons).
Why? The more "standard" his laptop, the less he'll be dependent on you for assistance. A standard, vanilla, middle of the road configuration means more ways for him to get help when needed. Set up something geeky, cool and uncommon, and he'll be calling you for help for every minor issue.
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I uploaded set up files for Chrome and VLC player at dropbox for him to download and install. Other than that, he just needs to buy MS Office.
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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d@nish wrote: disable UAC
Not unless he's a power user.
Would you give him root access to a Unix box?
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Absolutely. He would think there is a problem with computer. It's just showing up a black screen. He will keep on restarting it. 
"Bastards encourage idiots to use Oracle Forms, Web Forms, Access and a number of other dinky web publishing tolls.", Mycroft Holmes[ ^]
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If he is alien to the IT world, then I would enable autoupdate on every app, install a good free antivirus and be sure that UAC is enabled, probably, I would also set an standard account for him so he don't install anything dangerous by default.
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If he's familiar with any older Windows versions, and doesn't want to spend a few weeks in WTF-mode, get something like Stardock's Start8 start button and set it to boot into desktop mode. I think you can even shut the system down from it, if not, teach him how to do that. After that, it's pretty much just like a faster, better Windows 7 (well, sans Aero), so install the applications you think he'll want and off you go.
The MS morons took a lot of the keyboard shortcuts out of desktop mode, especially file explorer. I've not found any way to bring them back so I just suffer at their hand on this.
I have Start8 on my Win8 laptop and like it. Didn't put it on my Win8 dev box at work, nor the new Win8 computer for home. Win8's learnable, and my family seems to like it better than Win7 oddly enough.
We can program with only 1's, but if all you've got are zeros, you've got nothing.
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d@nish wrote: His requirements are really limited to browser and MS office. He is alien to IT World. Since I too have never seen Windows 8 (I like my cave and have no intentions of crawling out of it for now), I am not really sure what all do we need to do to get things going.
For instance, I would disable updates for some software, disable UAC and make start up programs and services to my liking. Apart from that, I would install MSE, Chrome and VLC player.
Sounds like you got the wrong gadget. You should return it and buy an iPad (or a cheap Android tablet). 
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I went by this article when I bought my Ultrabook a couble of months ago: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2027945/how-to-banish-metro-from-your-windows-8-pc-forever.html[^]. It describes pretty much what the title states, i. e. banish Metro/Modern from your W8 gadget entirely. You still can switch to the Metro start screen, but you'll never see it if you don't want to.
A crucial thing to achieve this that is missing from pretty much every similar article I've seen, is to replace the standard utility programs like mail or player with appropriate (and more powerful) desktop versions. The article goes on to describe some tools to bring back the start menu and boot into desktop like every other article does - nothing new here. But all this won't help if every time you double-click a document you'll swicth back to the Start Screen and a bland and featureless single window App blocks your entire screen, leaving you wondering how to get back to your desktop (or if this is just another variant of the BSOD).
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Watch it live here[^].
Unfortunately, I probably won't be home to watch it - driving up to Albany and back today. 
Marc
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Shockwave Flash has already crashed on me once, but it just might let me watch this one...
[EDIT]
What a rip-off! The stream froze at t-30 seconds or so, then went dark and returned showing the tracking camera image of the burning boosters, well into the flight; no launch video at all! Grrrr....
[/EDIT]
Will Rogers never met me.
modified 28-Aug-13 14:51pm.
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I am now the proud (I hope) owner of a new 2013 Chevy Cruze (base model sedan, manual 6-speed transmission). Actually, it's for Mrs. Wife.
So many lights and features - a minimalist's nightmare. Driving it home (ca. 30 miles / 50 km) was immediately comfortable and at now time was it sluggish. For any of you wondering, yes, the 2014's are out - and the discount on the 2013's, especially a manual stuck on the dealer's lot, is substantial.
Hopefully as good as they're supposed to be. I've not bought a new "Chevy" since 1981 - a four-wheeled nightmare known as a Chevette. After that experience, I didn't even buy another car 'new' until 2002.
Anyone with a Cruze that can instill confidence in this choice (gamble?investment?&etc?)
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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The Cruze, along with the Ford Focus, seemed to have finally brought a US compact care back into competition with the rest of the world. I'll check with the dealer about that heat-shield problem: they've had it at their dealership long enough and with a recall out, they'd need to fix it anyway (or, perhaps a model built after the recall, not in need - a fantasy?).
Your reference is appreciated.
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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it has certainly been walloped with the ugly stick
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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Do you ask new parents if they kept the receipt as well?
This message is manufactured from fully recyclable noughts and ones. To recycle this message, please separate into two tidy piles, and take them to your nearest local recycling centre.
Please note that in some areas noughts are always replaced with zeros by law, and many facilities cannot recycle zeroes - in this case, please bury them in your back garden and water frequently.
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yep
love asking if they couldnt have got one without creases
You cant outrun the world, but there is no harm in getting a head start
Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.
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It's a Daewoo Lacetti.
It isn't the worst Daewoo on the streets.
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES!
Abraham Lincoln
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I'd worry more about the recall regarding the steering wheel falling off!
It's well known that if all the cat videos and porn disappeared from the internet there would be only one site left and it would be called whereareallthecatvideosandporn.com
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I think you'd be hard pressed to make a bad choice in today's auto market.
All the cars built today, even the ones with a bad track record, are better than cars built 10 years ago.
You'll be fine.
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