I've spent countless hours educating them about malware, but how can they know that the app that promises to make their computer fast again is malware?
I've spent countless hours educating them about malware, but how can they know that the app that promises to make their computer fast again is malware?
My dad complained that his laptop would pop up "strange pictures" and ask if he "liked what he saw" and that they kept coming up even though he always said no.
I thought he'd acquired some sort of malware popping up fake dating site ads, but it turned out that he had upgraded to Windows 10 and was referring to the scenic photos it now shows at the login prompt/unlock screen...
Of course this is not for everyone, but for folks who for the most only need a browser a Linux distro is a good choice.
I love Linux, but there really is no beating an iPad if you need a PC-approximate that is absurdly low maintenance.
I would personally rather support a linux machine that I can remotely connect to, give them icons on the desktop, etc, than an iPad.
- many times desktop browser will be more compatible,
- you can install additional safety browser extensions beyond adblocker,
- Chrome Remote Desktop for remote service,
- updates on ChromeOS are entirely seamless - just reboot the machine every once in a while.
Desktop browser compatibility have high practical importance. There are many sites that are important (i.e. government sites), but either are hard to navigate or can't be displayed properly. Users may use 20% of sites 80% of time. It does not matter then when they stumble upon a site that is important, but does not work. This sounds like a classic argument of FOSS proponents - everything works except: this game or that printer. In many cases it will be unacceptable.
Additional safety browser extensions and Chrome Remote Desktop are indeed for technical users. However it is meant to cut needed service time - that is of value to the normal users.
Seamless updates are important in a sense that the device is not bugging them and device is always ready to use. That also ensures that device is safe to use. It may be not of high importance to users, but it certainly is of practical importance.
I did not include price previously, but it was mentioned here above. The price is not practical importance per se, but it often overrides everything.
[1] http://web.ist.utl.pt/hugo.nicolau/publications/2012/assets1... - it's a small study, but nice place to start
Yup, I agree, but some folks prefer a physical keyboard and an Ipad + bluetooth keyboard is not really super convenient.
There are several ways switching an unsophisticated user reduces this problem:
- Ads for malware-laden $RANDOM_SOFTWARE downloads aren't targeted at Linux desktops in the first place.
- The ads that mimic UI widgets don't match anything in the desktop UI, making them much easier for unsophisticated users to identify as suspect.
- Saying that $RANDOM_SOFTWARE they want to install isn't Linux-compatible (which admittedly does generate moderate pressure to switch back) is usually a more acceptable answer than "No, I won't install that malware-riddled piece of crap for you", however gently worded.
I switched over my father-in-law's laptop to Chromium OS for this exact reason.
(mostly) automatic updates.
no malware.
zero configuration to allow for breaking anything.
no "can I install XX?" questions. The answer is always "if it's in the chrome store".
A good browser does everything he needs.
Very quickly most will get the idea that the computer is broken and you need to come and fix it because you were the one that broke it.
FYI, since a few years, TurboTax has an online version that I use on Linux.
The real issue is that malware (adware?) is so damn convincing that he honestly believes it will make his 2 year old computer cleaner/better/faster/longer battery life. Once these apps are installed, they set themselves up in /Library/LaunchDaemons, /Library/LaunchAgents, browser addons, default search engines and several other places and they are absolutely a pain to get rid of over the phone.
So no, the solution for them is not, switch to Chromebooks. Ideally Apple would update their existing malware rules to include these "legitimate" but extremely shady apps.