What operating system will be on the machine?
He already bought the machine, it has Vista, it is wi-fi capable, but I doubt that there is any rush on that.
I just wanted him to get some basic protections now, and then I thought that I could encourage him to take more interest in security as he spent more time on the internet.
Right now I just want to prevent his eyes from glazing over, and him ignoring me, until I can get him to install a few things, update them and run a few scans.
My theory is that once you can get someone to update a couple of programs and run maybe a half dozen or more scans, then that person will start taking an interest in these programs.
When they see that running scans is kind of fun and rewarding, then they will be receptive to new, and better security ideas.