librewolf
Personally, I installed the Brave browser for my parents, and the reason for this is that Google Chrome blocked ads very slowly, while Brave blocked everything very quickly. The Startpage search engine seems to be fine, except that important tabs are closed, of which there were 50 open, but that’s a technical issue.😆
Microsoft Edge
And I know /c/privacy is going to get an aneurysm, but go into the edge settings and turn on all the “let Microsoft spy on you to keep you safe” settings.
Microsoft website whitelist? Yes please.
Block untrusted downloads? Surely.
Send a copy of an unknown file to Microsoft if it looks suspicious? Don’t mind if I do.
User Account Control? Maximum paranoia please.
For old people you want Google/Microsoft/Apple with their fingers so far into the computer that it starts killing off spyware to maintain its advantage.
Obviously toss in Factory uBlock origin. And pay for ad free on their favorite websites, they changed your diaper for crikes sake.
Netscape.
Browser:
- Firefox (default), configured with AI, ads, and telemetry disabled and search options adjusted. uBlock Origin (default blocklists, allowed in private tabs) and a password manager (personally I would recommend Bitwarden) installed and pinned to the taskbar for easy access.
- OS Browser (especially of note for Edge) - settings configured to remove as much AI/Telemetry/ads as humanly possible. Stripped to a blank start page and search engine reconfigured. Removed as the default and shortcuts hidden/deleted. Password manager installed if possible. uBlock optional but recommended. If they find their way back here, make it as usable as possible…
- iOS only: Orion browser instead of Firefox. Its built on WebKit and supports extensions (so obviously, install uBlock Origin from FF).
Search:
If your budget allows, I would set them up as family members in Kagi and make it their default search engine in all browsers they could come in contact with. If you have family members susceptible to going down disinformation rabbit holes, when you set them up you may want to consider downranking sites for them that spread that kind of content. They publish their most blocked/down ranked sites for easy reference - if logged in you can adjust your settings right from the stats page.
If you’d prefer a free option: DDG, with AI/Ads/feature suggestions disabled. DDG results have been getting better (no longer just a Bing clone) but still suffers from pretty heavy AI slop when searching niche subjects.
A note on the password manager: install and get them in the habit of using it on all of their devices (and potentially even generating random passwords for sites). Burn the notebook they have everything written down on. Delete the note from their phone’s built-in notes app. Disable password saving in their browser and help them import those passwords before removing them. If they NEED to write down the master password, sobeit, but keep it somewhere safe and without context (e.g., don’t write “BITWARDEN” next to it in big red letters). If its a family member, talk to them about the possibility of adding you as an emergency contact or similar for their system. This could save you significant headache in the future.
A note on FF Forks: I know there are forks that do come stripped of AI/telemetry automatically, but from a maintainability perspective FF is a lot more stable, more likely to be running long-term, more recognizable, and available for all devices to encourage familiarity.
Browser doesn’t really matter much. If one isn’t using dev tools or many addons, just pick something FOSS and call it good. I love Kagi for search but candidly for non-tech people, just DDG is simple and pretty good with both results and privacy.
Pick something FOSS
That’s a very short list.
If your native language isn’t English (or even if you’re outside the US) I wouldn’t recommend DDG for older people. They’ll want to search in their language and most searches will be about local stuff and DDG sucks in that area. It’s my main search engine and I constantly play with the country toggle but if I want something actually local I usually end up switching to Google for this search. Just make sure to install an adblock so you avoid the “Ad” results.
I think any Foss browser might work and Google as search engine and ublock origin with this blocklist
The default one on the OS, with chrome also installed, both with uBlock origin. Keep it simple.
Getting uBlock Origin to work with Chrome requires a workaround, and that is not scheduled remain available long-term.
It seems to work in Edge, believe it or not.
Including Edge for Android, which puts it in a compelling position for certain use cases.
This is the golden answer.
Anything that strays from the defaults (especially in windows) risks getting reset during a major automatic update, and now you’re getting support calls because “the internet doesn’t work right anymore”.
I’ve never had a update change my default browser. Feels pretty low risk, especially if you get them used to clicking the specific FF icon and hide all Edge shortcuts. They’ll forget it exists quickly.
Search engine, Kagi for parents. You can customize it to just kid friendly results for them so they never see all of the easily manipulative links out there on nearly every other search engine. Similar to the OG Google experience of the early 2000s, but way more relevant and way more helpful as a service to find anything/everything of child curiosity that’s child appropriate.
Doesn’t really matter. The true work lies in how you configure it. You can make the computer automatically open the browser and multiple tabs on startup. Move the tabs to the sidebar, so they have all the websites they want neatly organized in a list on the left side of the screen.
DuckDuckGo has a feature called bangs that redirects your searches to other search engines depending of which bang you use.
Zen, can’t go back to workspaces working like logging in and out.
How old is old? Recommendations for 85+ is different then if your in hs and asking about your 40 year old father…
