Microsoft Windows is a malware in the first place. Replaced it with Linux since 1996, never had any problems with 'viruses' since then.
My parents still buys antiviruses for Windows, I told them to switch to Ubuntu long ago.
My parents still buys antiviruses for Windows, I told them to switch to Ubuntu long ago.
If I may offer some advice, don't tell elderly people to change anything, especially about things they're not familiar with, like computers are for many of them. The more people grow old, the more they need familiarity with things. During the years, also thanks to the transition to become a grey beard myself, I've learned the lesson and adopted a different approach, both for relatives and customers: I offer to solve problems at minimum effort, that is, no more viruses, lost data due to OS or software crashes, licenses and their expiration, planned obsolescence and subsequent need to buy new hardware, etc. It goes like "I'm giving you something much better with all your data where you expect them to be; you use it for a while, then after some time if you don't feel comfortable I'll revert it back exactly like before, for free". The "free" part of course is needed outside of family and friends. It is important to keep technical data for ourselves because every term they don't understand would reinforce the perception that Linux can't be used by non technical people and they would fear it long before even having seen it in action. If they ask "what's Linux?" the answer should be like "something like Windows but less problematic" and nothing more. I've started to experience success stories in migrating Windows users to Linux the day I've stopped expecting they could understand what is a compiler, a kernel or the GNU philosophy.
Where does this belief come from? Sure it will be challenging for them to get up to speed in a new environment but i don't think there is any rule against learning new things at that age. I would argue that new and different can help improve their mind. Is there any recent science that has provided insight into this?
> I would argue that new and different can help improve their mind.
If it is something they want to learn, probably yes. If it is something forced upon them while they are trying to do something completely different, it can just as well make them even less receptive to learning new technology.
> My parents still buys antiviruses for Windows
Last time I checked (could be very out of date) Linux doesn't have any way to enforce code signing requirements, even in the kernel.
On the other hand, Microsoft is doing everything to appease their users. The Excel software have a bug to maintain backward compatibility. I won't recommend any Windows users to switch to Linux.