I am older (54), and a little set in my ways, to be sure, but I am not phobic about change. I just don't want to waste my limited time learning something new like Linux, which has always had a reputation as being more of an enthusiast's operating system, when I don't perceive there being very much gain for my time invested.
There's really very little to learn. I, too, am older. 57 in three months, to be exact. Of course, I've spent a career running UNIX/Linux servers. HOWEVER, the desktop environment is pretty simple.
Most people don't realize that they've been learning the Linux desktop environment most of their lives. It's called the CUI, or "Common User Interface." Back in the late 90s, IBM, DEC, Microsoft and others sat down and hammered out standards about what certain actions should mean. That's why <Ctrl-W> under Windows closes the current window and does under Cinnamon, as well. We click with the left button and right-clicks bring up a context menu. If a button is highlighted, you can hit the space bar or <Enter> instead of pressing that button. <Alt-Tab> switches between windows and <Ctrl-Tab> switches between tabs inside the window. You extend a selection by holding down the <Shift> key and you multi-select by holding down the <Ctrl> key. All those keystroke shortcuts you use under Windows work under Linux.
Want to try out Libre Office, the office productivity app I mentioned earlier? It's available under Windows, as well. Reads and edits Power Point, Excel, Word, etc. documents just as if you had paid Micro$oft big bux. Google Chrome works the same no matter what OS you're running. Same with FireFox. If you *really* can't let go of Internet Explorer, you can run it under WINE, the Windows Emulation suite.
And if you choose not to do any of those things, I am out nothing but a bit of my time talking about something I'd gladly talk about anyway. I don't make money by getting people to run Linux on their home computers.
It really isn't rocket science. And since we're all rocket scientists...
[grin]
Afterthought edit:
In the past, I would tell people that, while I loved Linux myself, I'd never put it on my parents' computer. Linux Mint changed all that. Unfortunately, both of them passed away years ago. I felt 1000% confident putting it on my future brother-in-law's laptop, however. His sister, my future XYL, has walked up and used my Linux desktop PC without a problem, not knowing it was Linux. She just needed to use it and she did. I wasn't there to hold her hand or show her anything. My only gripe was that when I got home, she had closed ALL my Chrome windows because she was done with it. /sigh
