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I used to run a PC Repair shop.

Most people want something for nothing. Will write bad checks and do chargebacks on their credit card to get free PCs and free repairs. Then we get forced to cash only, and then they go to the Big Box stores that are open Sundays and take in store credit cards.

I got a lot of friends and family members running an old Pentium 4 with XP and some upgraded to Windows 7 somehow. From time to time I fix their systems for free or a low cost.

PC Repair Shop had a deal, we'd install Linux for free but tech support was extra. A few took us up on the offer and had a good time using FOSS alternatives. We even set up Linux with SAMBA on Windows PC networks to share files and printers. But there was no money in it because 99% of the people and businesses wanted Windows.

Geeksquad refuses to support old Windows versions, so I get people with Windows 98 etc from time to time. You'd be amazed at the number of people out there still running old Windows and Office versions. Some even use old versions of Wordperfect. My wife volunteers and sometimes someone emails her a Wordperfect file and I use Libreoffice to open them.

I found in doing charity work, that a lot of charities still use old hardware and software that is no longer supported. Some of the old stuff is donated to third world nations where they still use it instead of recycling the materials for scrap.



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