I think I am going to my dad a new basic desktop computer. His computer is about a million years old but he is way too cheap and stubborn to replace it. I think I may get him a Dell Inspiron 3000. It has a reasonable processor (Intel Quad Core 4th gen i5 3.2GHz), is not too expensive, has 8GB RAM, and I can always upgrade to an SSD if needed. He doesn't do much on it (just listens to music, some basic spreadsheets, and browses the web).
I can get it with Window 7 or 8. I am leaning towards 7 because 8 is pretty different than he is used to using (XP). Is there any reason to go with Windows 8? For example, is Windows going to stop supporting 7 or is Windows 8 more secure?