It’s been years since I’ve used Windows on my own computer. But my wife, well, that’s a different story. She’s not the kind of user who likes how “hard” is to use my machines running Debian or Arch.
So I had Windows installed for her on the home PC and on her laptop. I was constantly cleaning, re-installing, fighting viruses, etc. due to Windows’ infamous weaknesses in these areas.
Well, a year ago, when she needed to travel to Buenos Aires for six months, I had Ubuntu 11.10 installed on her laptop alongside Windows, and asked her to see if she could use just Ubuntu, reassuring her that this way she wouldn’t have to worry about getting it fixed because it wouldn’t be able to break. Her basic needs for the laptop were Skype (to stay in touch), Gmail, Office documents (via LibreOffice), and browsing the internet.