So easy a 5 year old could use it, or need help setting up a really simple pc/mac

In My Humble Opinion
1

My aunt is developmentally delayed. She is 53 years old, lives on her own, pays her own bills, does her own shopping, etc. However, she is intellectually and emotionally at about a 8-9 year old level. Most of the more sophisticated things she knows, she’s learned through heavy repetition.

She loves to play educational pc games such as the Reader Rabbit learning software and Adiboo.

Currently she’s using my desktop pc to run these programs, which is not good for either one of us. I’m running Windows XP professional and I have a lot of stuff on the harddrive. Even though I’ve set her user account to be as simplified as possible, she still somehow manages to get to something that confuses her. Plus she doesn’t get the concept of using the “start” button to go through the shut down sequence.

I want to set up a computer, either mac or pc, that would be extremely simply to operate. Literally something a new-to-the-process 5-year old could use.

I have a spare pc that currently has no operating system installed. I can buy a monitor for her and I already have a keyboard and a trackball-ish mouse because she gets less frustrated with that than a regular mouse. I don’t know which operating system would be best to use, although I’m fairly certain that I don’t want XP, the fewer number of steps to starting a program, the better. I’m leaning towards Windows 2000 or NT because they’re stable but I’m not sure which would be most compatible with the newer kid software.

I am not opposed to getting a mac. My only concern is limiting the software she has to choose from. She’s extremely picky and it wouldn’t be good to unduly limit her choices in this area.

She will not be connecting to the internet and won’t be using email, so concerns about virus protection (pc v. mac) aren’t really relevant. We don’t even need a word processing/spreadsheet or any type of office software. She won’t be listening to music or doing any sort of photo editing/viewing.

Money is definitely an object - would like to spend less than $2,000 if I need to buy something new.

So, help please? Any advice would be appreciated.

2

Take a look at Linux, perhaps with Edubuntu. It ticks several boxes - free, lots of software, probably will run fine on a spare old-ish PC, can be tried out by making a live CD before installing anything. You can tweak menus around as much as you want, removing anything unnecessary from her account, and

3

Have you considered super-customizing XP for her?

For example, you can create a shutdown script (or use the shutdown.exe app linked on that page) so she can have a link right on her desktop to click to shut down.

You can do a lot of tweaking with tips from www.tweakxp.com.

If she’s extremely picky, switching to a different OS might be too much for her. But having her own machine will definitely take some of the strain off of you.

BTW for really awesome deals on seriously no-frills computers with OSes, check out www.dfsdirect.com. That is Dell’s “off lease” computer shop. You could get exactly what she needs - with XP - for like $300.

4

Thanks for the links. I didn’t know that it was possible to create those kinds of shortcuts in XP. I’ll try them out.

5

If you’re concerned that she might click the wrong thing and crash the PC, there are ways to make PCs boot and run from either a USB drive or a CD, or to even re-image Windows from a hidden partion on the hard drive every time it’s started, so a reboot will cure any accidental mixups or viruses. You say she won’t be using the internet, but if the PC is plugged into a network with internet access, the script kiddies and bot-herders can and will find it. The only way to be safe is to be completely disconnected.

The obvious caveat is that user data can’t be stored. Pre-installed games won’t be a problem, but it would be impossible to save scores or any other sort of progress. Using a home PC in “Kiosk” mode may seem a bit heavy-handed, but it would guarantee the same user experience day after day, regardless of how badly scrambled the user manages to get it.

6

The pc she’s currently using and the one I’ll set up just for her, won’t be connected to the outside world at all. I have a laptop to connect to the internet. (It’s mine, all mine!! :slight_smile: )

Not saving the game progress wouldn’t be a good option for us. I’m sure you know how frustrating it is to have to start all over again from the beginning of a game when you’ve just gotten to a really good part. She has taken the initiative to try these games in an effort to improve her reading and math skills, plus have a little fun. I’m trying to support that as much as possible.

The key here is that I’ll only be available, on a daily basis, to help her troubleshoot any issues until next summer. After that, we may visit once a month/2months. So I need to set up something which will allow her to install her own software but will severely restrict any catastrophic changes. We’ll need a few months for her to get used to doing this kind of stuff on her own. I plan to make a guide, but if it takes more than say, 5 steps to do something she’ll give up without trying.

I haven’t done much more than take a cursory look at the links provided - although I do plan to check them out indepth. I know in XP the system files are automatically hidden even for administrative accounts, but they are still accessible. Is there a way to allow, on any OS, installation of software but no other system changes?