Hi Jane, I am 66 and have used a PC for many years. I attended a short computer class once and worked on a Mac. The biggest frustration I recall is that it responded to a single click and I was used to double clicking. I decided that although it would take time to get used to, I wanted to set up my PC to respond to a single click. Since then, I have set up any new computer to single click. I have a very difficult problem because I DO NOT intuit anything. I have to read instructions and even then, I may not understand. I have to do a lot of searching for very basic things: most recently, "how to use a touch pad" after I bought a 10.1 inch netbook. I sometimes use a cordless mouse because I still hate a touch pad. Returning to my inability to intuit anything and everything that "normal" users do without thinking, the problem is very real, constant, and extremely frustrating. I have to be very motivated to struggle through learning new concepts. Case in point: I use a cell phone only to make and receive calls. I have been unable to figure out how to send or receive text messages, I can't program functions like the clock or the list of people whose numbers I want to call, I can bring up a list of missed calls, but I can't easily call the person back, etc. I can't download different ring tones even though I would dearly love to find Allison Du Bois' ringtone--from the "Medium." I can find this information online but I can't figure out how to get it into my phone and then select the new app for my phone. I am not stupid. I was first a teacher and then a registered nurse and I have two MS degrees, both with high honors. I am simply brain dead in the area of the brain that allows one to intuit while on a computer. I think it is absolutely imperative that your husband sees a patient tech in a Mac store and has a chance to experience the differences between Mac and PC. Good luck! Nancy

"Most of the "viruses" that have been released that target the Mac are software exploits, but they don't really get anywhere. The reason is that Mac OS/Darwin is a multi-user OS where the user does NOT have admin privileges. That means that malicious software cannot surreptitiously attack the main underlying system. I'm not saying that Macs are foolproof, and I do believe that any computer user has to be vigilant." Quite simply, UNIX is a more secure OS architecture than Windows.

Thanks Zep. I'm quite willing to learn the Mac system and DH knows next to nothing about either. He needs little cheat sheets for each thing he wants to do. LOL! Not really concerned about file compatibilities -- I don't think. :-)) I'd probably put Open Office on the new one rather than buying another MS Office Suite. He won't do a lot of (like any) word processing and I understand anything I might create in OO will be viewable in MSO. If I were in need of editing then I'd C+P said info into a new Office Doc on my own 'puter and carry on. Might happen once a year. What I do not want is a problematical OS that I'm constantly running to fix so he can do something inane like play crib on Yahoo. I've made it a practice to avoid all MS upgrades for a considerable length of time before installing. It simply isn't worth the headaches and time involved. All that said perhaps a wiser, though possibly difficult, move would be to install my XP OS on the new laptop and buy Vista to install on my machine. I have to run thru some of the video info on Vista but I'm thinking I'd be the person that would be most likely to use (some of) the *bells and whistles* and he'd be more comfy with an interface that had some familiarity. Problem(s) arise in buying a laptop/notebook sans OS or with OS and then uninstalling / reinstalling . . . blah blah. Hmmm If I upgrade (can this be done?) to Vista on my XP machine, can I install my present XP system on the laptop? I have a gig of RAM now so would need to upgrade to 2 at least. I'll run the compatibility test but think most everything else should work. Have 2 80 Gig HD's, one of which is partitioned to run W'98 (cause I had games that hadn't yet had patches developed that I like to play). That was two plus years ago and now there are patches avail so likely this is no longer a concern. Lots of head scratching! :-)) Pleased to hear any shared thots. Thanks a bunch for the reply. Holly

on my windows 7 I go to control panel then on the list the row to the far right there is the Java it is a small square with a coffee cup in it, click that then in there you will see the update tab click that and select update now.Java looks like this I have java on every pc I have if not you will not see some websites displayed properly in many cases. It depends on the vendor of your pc most of the big ones do install java but a few do not. My HP, ACER and the Dells all do come with java and windows 7. It used to come bundled with windows till the lawsuit now it is up to the individual vendors. A tool I recommend to check your pc to see just what needs updating is this free secuinia scan, it also checks your java so you can run it and it will tell you exactly what needs updating and where to get the update. Welcome to Secunia Online Software Inspector (OSI) this is the site to check your version of java online if you need to Verify Java Version It is important to only have the latest version of java on your computer so any old versions should be removed a program we recommend for that is javara JavaRa