My 90 year old Mom accidentally downloaded windows 10.. She's nearly blind

[reACTIONary]

40. Don't count on it, unless.....

..... unless you are already using those non-standard simulacra on windows to begin with.

For instance, if you use Open Office or Office Libre on windows, the files will work under those programs on Linux. If you use MS Office, there is a good chance they won't on Linux. Sometimes they do, and you can save in an interchange format like RTF to make it work, but if you get an Office file from someone via email you might have trouble with it. As you have experienced with your friend's email attachments.

The heavy slant towards non-standard simulacra is there by design. Linux is not a straight forward comercial product. It's part of a techno-socioeconomic philosophy / movement based on the concepts of open source, user control and involvement, and a "sharing", DIY economy.

All the ideology aside, the business model that underlies it works surprisingly well, but it is defently a niche product that is focused on techies that know what they are doing, really enjoy doing it themselves, and want to "change the workd".