How to set up an old laptop for a young child?

July 4, 2011 3:19 PM

What OS and programs should I use to set up an old Windows XP laptop for a young child?

I want to set up my old laptop for my young son (6, nearly 7) and I'm looking for recommendations for a suitable OS and programs (preferably free, open source), please. The machine is an Acer Travelmate 2303LC, Celeron M, 1.5GHz, 400MHz FSB, 512k L2 cache, 30GB HDD, 256MB DDR), and it's currently running Windows XP. I want to set up it so my son can do simple word processing, send and receive emails, access pre-set internet sites, and play games (mainly educational). For the OS, should I stick with XP, or try one of the child-oriented versions of Linux? (I've never used Linux, so I'd need something easy to install!) And can anyone recommend a suitable suite of programs, please -- easy to use, hard to crash, with clear controls and a simple interface?

posted by kitfreeman to computers & internet (9 answers total)

It sounds like edubuntu might be exactly what you're looking for.
posted by Stagger Lee at 3:24 PM on July 4, 2011

My thought was the same, Edubuntu is far more stable and easy on your pocketbook since it's all free. You can try it out online here: http://edubuntu.org/weblive/connect/weblive-appserv01.nx.stgraber.org/6522/desktop/fullscreen

They allow you to login on their demo server for 2 hours free. I highly recommend you give it a try!
posted by nogero at 3:41 PM on July 4, 2011

3rding Edubunu. It's exactly what you are looking for. It comes loaded with educational software and games.
posted by COD at 3:45 PM on July 4, 2011

I'm going to suggest Ubuntu as well. If you're going to give a kid a laptop (Especially running XP, instead of vista or 7) and let him go nuts, there's a decent chance he'll get spyware. Ubuntu is pretty easy to install, from my experience. I don't know how to setup web filtering on it, though (ideally, it would be best if you could set up a proxy server, rather then relying on software on the machine itself -- kids can be pretty good a bout getting around those things.)

I haven't tried Edubuntu, but sounds like what you're looking for. Kids don't have the legacy of being used to windows, and they're much more open to trying new things and learning then adults
posted by delmoi at 3:48 PM on July 4, 2011

(Btw, it's entirely possible to get spyware from 'normal' sites if they get hacked, or they manage to have their ads hijacked)
posted by delmoi at 3:49 PM on July 4, 2011

Give Sugar On A Stick a try before committing to edubuntu.

You might be surprised.
posted by mhoye at 5:03 PM on July 4, 2011

Turning it into a Hackintosh running any recent version of OS X would give you Apple's very fine-grained Parental Control.
posted by zo219 at 6:21 PM on July 4, 2011

Turning it into a Hackintosh running any recent version of OS X would give you Apple's very fine-grained Parental Control.

One of the great things about learning about computers at a young age is the combination of courage and curiosity that leads one to tinker. An OS geared towards making its users into little more than content consumers is not a good outlet for that. An OS that takes steps to *prevent* users from taking control of their machine, modifying things, breaking things, and learning how to make things work is a *bad* start.

If my first experiences had been with such a locked-down OS, I might never have become interested in hacking (not in the media's sense of the term) and later in programming. I would have viewed the OS as a simple appliance that let me play games and watch movies rather than a removable, modifiable piece of something which *I* could control. That sort of control can be wonderful fun and very confidence-inspiring to some kids, and to deprive them of that from the start seems wrong.

But hey, maybe I'm from a different generation. At this rate I feel like I should be yelling at kids to get off my lawn any day now...
posted by -1 at 9:19 AM on July 5, 2011

Thanks for all the responses. Edubuntu looks like the best bet. One follow-up question, please: Will I have to wipe XP in order to install edubuntu, or can I install both?
posted by kitfreeman at 11:42 AM on July 5, 2011