I used XP until Windows 8 was released. At least I got a cheap Windows 8 key from Microsoft back then. And upgraded to 8.1 and later to 10. So I got my money's worth out of it.
Such a shame things will never be as good as they were again.
One newspaper might do. But I've seen people keep newspapers from 50 years ago. The newspaper has their own archive for that. No need to keep that stuff around if your life is suffering from that.
I get you. I don't think my parents were hoarders necessary but they had trouble throwing things out that were still good.
I guess them growing up in poverty has changed them in a way. Back when I was young my dad used to be looking for jobs a lot and things were tight. I think that may have influenced me as a person.
My mom always used to keep things tidy, even with lots of stuff in the house. Even after my dad passed away. But since her brain infarction she started going downhill.
I try to clean up and at least sort things out and store them together when I get the chance. But due to chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia I am slower with getting things done. But we'll get there. And one difference, we don't save trash and newspapers.
What I'm saying is, it's not as bad as I made it look. And I'm not complaining. I'm glad you are in a different place now. That must've been hard on you as a child. Probably in more ways than one.
I agree, mint is a good place to start.
If it turns out to be too much for your pc you could always try antix or q4os or puppy linux next, which is even more lightweight.
But I have recently found that mint is like a better version of ubuntu and I used to recommend ubuntu all the time because 9/10 times it just works.
I used XP until Windows 8 was released. At least I got a cheap Windows 8 key from Microsoft back then. And upgraded to 8.1 and later to 10. So I got my money's worth out of it.
Such a shame things will never be as good as they were again.