Help me figure out the best distro for someone...

[Epodx64]

Ok, so here's the deal my Mom has a Windows XP installation that is just thrashed with viruses and malware and I'm a afraid her bank account and personal information is compromised so I need to do something and it's so bad, that it's hit a point of no return short of a reformatting the system the problem is I don't own any windows installation media (except a Consumer Preview build of Windows 8 which she hates because of the Metro U.I. ) So my question is what would be a decent Linux operating system thats no frills something with Wine installed so she can play Zuma and has a similar GUI as Windows So far I've been leaning toward Kubuntu,Xubuntu,Linux Mint w/ MATE, and a dark horse of Debian 6.0 I need something that’s going to be supported for awhile that’s not bleeding edge and will be stable and just work. I don't mind configuring it or anything so does anyone have a suggestion on what would work for a lifetime Windows user that's below average on a Technical scale.

p.s.
The system is a Dell Dimension 4700 3.00Ghz Pentium 4 HT 1.5 GiBs of Ram 80 Gb HDD Intel Video card.

[Polydorus]

My 75 year old sister dislikes any changes of her computer experience. Have your Mom try out which ever version of Linux most looks like her current XP set up. That will give you a good idea if you will have any success in converting her or not.

[robtygart]

Download them all, then let her try all of them with the live CD.

[sostentado]

I'll give you XUBUNTU. It's easy to customize after installation and fast.

[deadflowr]

I would say install the one you're most comfortable helping her out with.
If you're familiar with Kubuntu, then install Kubuntu. If Xubuntu is more familiar, go with that.
I've found, when installing anything on someone elses PC, they take it that you have proficient knowledge of that system, or program.
I installed Ubuntu 12.04 on my dad's PC, because if he ever needs helps, I'm familiar with the system. I wouldn't install something like bodhi linux or fedora as I'm only somewhat familiar with those. And my help would be limit.

[cortman]

Xubuntu should run very briskly on that hardware and can be configured to look/act similarly to Windows (start menu, etc.)I would definitely recommend Xubuntu or Debian w/ XFCE (but with Debian it'd probably be a bit more work to set up).

[mips]

Ok, so here's the deal my Mom has a Windows XP
p.s.
The system is a Dell Dimension 4700 3.00Ghz Pentium 4 HT 1.5 GiBs of Ram 80 Gb HDD Intel Video card.

Well you could always download a legitimate copy of WinXp or get a cd from Dell seeing you already have a license key. Install MSE/Avast/Avira and a good firewall and she would be good to go with something she knows.

If you want a linux that looks like winxp & has wine & play-on-linux then have a look at Zorin OS which comes in both Gnome & LXDE flavours so it can be lightweigth,
http://zorin-os.com/ based on Ubuntu
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zorin_OS
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=zorin

Which P4 CPU does she have as she could go 64 or 32 bit depending on the cpu?

or you could always just install Xubuntu for her which is really cool & would be my recommendation

Good luck.

[mips]

(but with Debian it'd probably be a bit more work to set up).

He could always use the latest Crunchbang image and add XFCE to it which would be really fast.

[1clue]

My fiancee had a Vista laptop that had a similar problem. I installed xubuntu on it and it works fine.

Do yourself a favor though, find out how much RAM that laptop can use and put it in. It will only be a few bucks and it will make a huge difference. With that age of laptop it probably won't be more than 4g, probably 2g. You're gonna need all of that IMO.

Kubuntu might be a good fit too, it's a bit heavier though.

[critin]

Clean the virus's and malware, it's not that hard. Then download different versions of distros to try live. When she decides make a dual boot. Running windows games on wine isn't necessarily easy, and many won't work. Frustration isn't fun to be around.

Someone may end up buying a new machine with windows on it if she's not happy. Clean it or find an official cd from a friend or ebay Install anti-virus, anti-malware and set them to run and update automatically. Then you take the responsibility to regularly clean and maintain it.