A 6 year old PC can't be that bad, I have a 1Ghz Athlon and FC5, and it works very well indeed; RAM may be more of an issue here, I have 512megs (most systems in shops had 128 then as a great thing).
If your parents aren't into playing the latest commercial games, I guess they're not or they wouldn't be using a 6 years old PC with winME, then Linux isn't a bad option at all. You can always try a LIVE CD to see if all hardware is detected correctly.
Contrary to popular belief switching to Linux isn't that difficult. I was a win98 user and now I use KDE as a desktop, when I come across a winXP I'm even more lost than I was in KDE. Things aren't exactly the same, but then it's like buying a new car, "where are those damm lights?".
Installing Linux is also quite straight forward and with a bit of luck problem free (winmodems can be a problem, but then a real modem isn't that expensive and someone might even give you one) Sometimes printers and graphic cards take a bit of tinkering, but there is enough info on the web and nothing that should be to daungting for a Blitz Coder.
If your parents aren't into playing the latest commercial games, I guess they're not or they wouldn't be using a 6 years old PC with winME, then Linux isn't a bad option at all. You can always try a LIVE CD to see if all hardware is detected correctly.
Contrary to popular belief switching to Linux isn't that difficult. I was a win98 user and now I use KDE as a desktop, when I come across a winXP I'm even more lost than I was in KDE. Things aren't exactly the same, but then it's like buying a new car, "where are those damm lights?".
Installing Linux is also quite straight forward and with a bit of luck problem free (winmodems can be a problem, but then a real modem isn't that expensive and someone might even give you one) Sometimes printers and graphic cards take a bit of tinkering, but there is enough info on the web and nothing that should be to daungting for a Blitz Coder.