Debian Wheezy (Gnome 3) should cover your needs. I installed it on the
laptops of several normal users and they use it just fine.
Gnome 3 has some 3D stuff but it's pretty subtle and practical use of
it imho. It's lighter than people think and I would not worry too much
- the Intel 915GM graphics chipset that laptop has should cope fine.
LibreOffice installed by default
I'd go with Chrome (get the upstream .deb) rather than Firefox as
Flash and PDF reading is built in, kept updated and it's less hassle,
faster etc. I think Java applets work fine with it.
PDF reader = built-in (Evince)
Media player = I just install VLC from the repo or upstream
IMAP mail client = no idea, but it has Evolution built-in which can
also use various calender protocols
I used to maintain my neighbours PCs, he was a skilled plumber and I'm
pretty sure he would be able to use this!
On 11 September 2014 10:07, Joseph Bennie <jay@???> wrote:
>
> I had a relatives Dell Inspiron 1300 in for "cleaning" few days ago and it reminded me that there are users out there with adequate hard ware - that just need
>
> a understandable desktop - without 3D fanfare and indexed searching widgets (i.e. no resources sucking frills that would tax an aged/slow 2.5" 5000rpm hard drive / bog standard hardware)
> core business apps i.e. LibreOffice 4.3.x
> a fully functioning version of firefox with flash and java compatibility
> a PDF reader
> a good media player.
> a solid imap mail client
> a usable ical compat calendar
>
> also its not really enterprise class (more good enough), it doesn’t need to be updated every 4 hrs and its available in 32bit version on an easy to install CD rom.
> Most importantly Its aimed at an average skilled person i.e. a skilled plumber, rather than a science graduate.
>
> after 10 years - has anyone settled on a distro(s) / distro version that tick this box/ out of the box?
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