[ianmcgowan]

A chromebox mounted behind the monitor did the trick for me. Haven't had an emergency wipe/reinstall in years. Also, a tablet with keyboard takes some of the pressure off having a "computer" and you can go with iOS or Android depending on what phone they use.

[mixmastamyk]

Out of the frying pan, into the fire. Exposing your parents to total surveillance (from one corp to another) is not what I'd characterize as safe or friendly. Linux is fine these days if the hardware is supported, and you can use an immutable distro if extra reliability is warranted.

[hattmall]

Strong disagree. I mean tracking is what it is, but it's happening regardless and if they are using Chrome to browse and Google services they are being tracked.

ChromeOS seems to work really well though and is dead simple and intuitive. It used to be incredibly awesome with crouton but that's mostly dead. Crostini is acceptable though. I would absolutely recommend ageing people getting a chrome device for security and simplicity.

Plus running any android apps on desktop gives even more software options than any other desktop for most consumers.

[fc417fc802]

You also can't properly back up the system unless you install a custom ROM and take on the associated maintenance burden. (At least Android. I'm not sure to what extent these things are left up to the whims of the developer on iOS.)

[haswell]

I've been evaluating a Lenovo ThinkCentre m920q tiny I picked up for not very much money on eBay (the m720q models are even cheaper) and they seem like perfect machines for the task.

My parents use some tools and hardware that require a full OS so the tablet route isn't an option, but I'm starting to really like the idea of deploying a couple of these micro PCs.