My grandpa is old and til now has always done things with paper copies including legal paperwork, taxes, and all that. Recently he's said the tax people don't want him using paper to file them and has sent him online resources to do so. Problem is his most recent computer runs Windows 7, and most web pages refuse to load. The only problem I have been able to determine is that the computer is wildly out-of-date, no longer receives security updates, and the internet doesn't like that.
Solutions I can think of are trying to prolong the life of the computer with Linux, getting a newer computer that has the hardware to run Windows 10/11, or taking him to the library to fill out info there. I am always glad to convert people to Linux, but for him it would have to run very similarly to the Windows 7 he's used to. He would have to be able to run EXEs easily and not have to configure anything. I know of low-to-no configuration distros, but I don't know if they can run his applications as easily. A new computer would be a pretty easy fix, but not exactly cheap either. The library, I'm not 100% sure they would allow you to do that paperwork there for security reasons, especially if the patron doesn't know how to log out and secure themselves. Even then, my grandparents have been reluctant to use our local library since they moved here from out of town, probably because they're old and don't like change.
So this is my predicament; if anyone has any suggestions regarding these or with different options, I'd appreciate them. If there is a way to use his current computer, that'd probably be ideal for him, but I do understand that's nowhere near ideal generally.
Linux Mint Cinnamon is pretty similar to Windows 7 out of the box as far as how it works. Can probably find something to download to make it match Windows 7 in start menu configuration.
My spouse was able to transition to using Mint from Windows without any problems.
Is their hardware a 32 or 64 bit system? If its old enough to be 32 then (from the smarter people about tech security) its not going to play nice with the more modern security stuff that requires 64bit systems. (I've got an ancient 32bit netbook that can do basic internet stuff on text pages but won't play well with much else.) Might need to find a cheapo refurbished office computer, should be able to get away with finding them for a few hundred after shipping. Maybe less if you're close enough to a city government or university that sells their old stuff but requires that you physically pick it up yourself.