[sjs]

Did you read it?

> The Atlantic advises a conservative approach: don't switch to a different browser, just give them the latest version of the browser they're already using. Be on hand for the first time or two they use the browser, just in case they notice the change and have questions.

[blhack]

I wish it was that simple.

The last time I was at my mom's house, I downloaded and ran putty (a standalone ssh client for windows).

She said that after I "installed" it on her computer, it started running really slow and that I needed to uninstall it.

[billpatrianakos]

Oh, tell me about it! I love how doing something as simple as checking your email on your parents' computer somehow turns into you giving them a virus or installing some weird thing.

We recently upgraded our Internet service to 20mbps and we got a new all in one modem/wireless router with it. Well, the wireless signal wasn't strong enough to reach my little corner of the house office so I plugged in another spare router to the new modem-router combo.

My dad went off on me about "what the hell is this shit you're plugging in?!" and "my Internet is slower than ever now!". Well, his computer was hard wired to the 20mbps modem-router and the auxiliary router was also by itself plugged into a completely separate port on the modem. So there was no way the router could affect him.

He heard me and the cable guy discussing how it sucks that I couldn't take advantage of the new modem-router because it supports the new high speed while my old spare router will only give me half the bandwidth. He thought my extra router was affecting him because of this conversation. We immediately went to speedtest.net and lo and behold, he was actually getting over 35mbps speeds, over 15 Meg's more bandwidth than we were promised.

Oh, parents...

[MarkSweep]

Even that's not safe. I remember a lot of angst when I upgraded someone's IE 6 to 7 about the missing menu bar.

[sjs]

Was anyone harmed? ... I'm joking of course. So they were frustrated for a second and then you showed them how to get the menu bar and everything was ok, right? Why was there a lot of angst, and why was it unsafe?

[InclinedPlane]

It's about "moving the cheese". Most people are creaturea of habit, when you move their cheese it forces them to change their habits and instills panic due to fear of the unknown. More so if the person affected isn't tech savvy. They are afraid they won't be able to do what they did before, they are afraid they'll make some new mistake that will have disastrous consequences, they are afraid of being embarrassed with making some novice blunder that will cause everyone to laugh at them, etc.

For these folks changing their browser, even a little bit would be like you or I walking into the bathroom and finding the toilet paper replaced with 3 seashells. You can get past that moment of panic with some coaching but some people don't like to be helped so there may or may not be anything you can do.

My philosophy: if you're getting tasked with being the family IT department, lay down some rules: they use what you suggest or they don't get support.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Moved_My_Cheese

[joe_the_user]

It is "unsafe" for the would-be helper to help people who aren't asking/paying for help and who don't understand the difference between a easily changed default setting and installed spyware.

With such people, you never know when they will simultaneously accuse you of "breaking" their computer and remove your access to said computer so that whatever you've done that they believe "breaks" the computer indeed becomes "permanent" and is something they can be permanently pissed at you for.

[sjs]

Some people can't be helped. In such extreme cases with incredibly unreasonable and unknowledgeable people just don't upgrade their browser. Let them languish.

On the other hand it could be a benefit to be removed from the duty of maintaing their computer, so maybe pissing them off is a (selfish) win.

[akavlie]

Staying with IE6 is arguably less safe, considering all the popular sites (Youtube & Facebook among others) that no longer support it.