Old People & Computers

Is windows simple enough that a middle-aged person can easily grasp by him/herself you think?

It sometimes puzzles me about people of that generation. Take like my dad for example. Each time he MUST use internet explorer eventhough I have tried hard to get him to use firefox so that we can avoid all the spyware and ads shit. But he refuses to because he says he is use to IE and be a waste of time to learn another browser. Also the concept of like minimizing a window or like simple copy/pasting is like soo hard fo him. Not to mention the fact that the moment you re-arrage the desktop icons just slightly, he starts to get totally lost. Heck he STILL hasnt known how to properly open/save a Word Doc. Each time ask me or my siblings to do it. It just boggles me sometimes. I doubt changing to a Mac OS system would make like simpler. Nor changing to a Linux system.

Mind you, I have seen other middle-aged and older people who are able to easily grasp all these simple computer concepts.

>>2
Yes.
>>5
At one time I did the same and also taught ESL and refugee intro computer classes.  IMO the motivation of the individual student is a another key factor besides the ease of use of the system.  At the time the systems were DOS 4 and OS 6.
Your right about presentation and that's where I fear many current instructors need to improve.  If one comes off as a Great Computing Guru, does that not reinforce the students (mistaken) belief that you have to be smart to do this?  This is how I was bestowed my screen-name--because it worked for me.
>>8
Try this:
Get something to point with.  A pencil works.  Point where you would go, explain why (Two sentences max.)  Never touch the keyboard or mouse yourself.  Motor skills and analytical (sic) skills reside in different parts of the brain and the more the better.  It works.