I love OSMC. On my Raspberry Pi, it is THE multimedia system. It is designed for a TV/remote control interface, though. Does anyone know of an alternative to OSMC that I can install on my dad’s laptop?
I need something that will keep track of which videos have been watched and designed to run with a monitor/mouse interface. I don’t even know what to call this type of software, otherwise I’d do a DuckDuckGo search for it myself (I do NOT use google…)
Any help will be GREATLY appreciated!
You could just install Kodi on the laptop. You don’t seem to know much but Kodi is the same UI used by OSMC
@shadow is right in this regard
If you want the full OSMC experience (updates, interface, App Store) etc, then stay tuned. A ‘PC’ version of OSMC is in the works
Sam
Really? “You don’t seem to know much…” That is supposed to be helpful? I already thought of that. You may be right… I may not “know much”, but I can read:
http://kodi.wiki/view/Quick_start_guide
The Kodi interface is designed with the ‘Home Theater’ in mind. This means it is best viewed on a large-screen TV while you sit on your couch 10-feet away from that TV, rather than on a small monitor while you sit at your desk.
Because everything is designed with the home theater experience in mind,
the best way to interact with Kodi is with a remote control, rather
than a computer mouse. If it helps, think of Kodi as the ultimate
DVD-player/set-top-box.
and I do know how the Kodi/OSMC interface works on my Pi. It seems to me that using a mouse would be more difficult what with the scrolling menu bar and all. I am trying to set this up for a 60+ year old man who is as stubborn as the day is long, so ease of use is essential.
@sam_nazarko → Thank you. I look forward to that.
I didn’t mean anything bad by that just that some people make it here without even knowing what Kodi is usually because someone else setup the device for them and saying you wouldn’t even know what to call this type of software made it seem like this was the case.
It really wouldn’t be bad to use it on a computer it may be designed for a home theatre but still works great on other devices. People even use it all the way to small devices like tablets and phones.
I only meant that I could look up music software as “jukebox” and find what I was looking for, but 'multimedia server" just wouldn’t be much help… Trust me… I am more than computer literate 
I did download the Kodi installer and I will try it on a spare laptop. Maybe it’ll be ok. Thanks.
Kodi works perfectly on smaller “systems” as well, really no reason why it wouldnt. Some skins might be better for smaller screens and different kinds of interface than others. I use Kodi on ipad, with a skin made for smaller touch screens for instance. I’ve never had any issues with mouse and keyboard on the default skin either really.
also some skins work fine with mouse while others do not manage very well with it or not at all.
As people suggested install kodi and find an easy to use skin that fully supports mouse, lock settings with password, and set up the skin menu with just the minimum.
One skin that i am using that fully supports mouse and is easy in my eyes is Amber skin.
Good luck.
I think the only way you’ll be able to sync what’s been watched is to have 2 kodi installations using a shared database.
But I get that kodi isn’t very mouse-friendly. Maybe you can find some UPnP client that would work easily for him?
Plex may be another option you could look into.
I actually use Plex to stream video to another TV so I am familiar with that one. I was actually thinking about that one, too.
I think you may think that I want for both systems (mine and my dad’s) to show the same watched videos. That’s not the case. He has trouble keeping up with what he’s watched, so I want him to be able to keep up with the videos he’s watched, which will be different from the videos I’ve watched.
Thank you all, though.
Just set up two profiles for this
Sam
+1 for DuckDuckGo - has been my default search for over a year now.
FYI for ease of use I would rate keyboard navigation as far more positive than mouse.
At a guess the minimum need to know is: Up/Down arrow buttons, Enter and Esc.
With the very useful ‘M’ option to toggle the Video Menu while playing video (here the Left and Right arrow come into their own). For me the keyboard is faster, sharper and easier!
I just wanted to thank everyone for their input. I installed Kodi on a spare laptop today and I was able to modify things so that I think they are simple enough for an old hippie to bear with it 
At the very least, I proved to myself that it works great! Thanks for all of your help/input.
lock access to settings with password (i learned the hard way from my father).
lol… that is a great idea! I will be sure to do that. No sooner than I don’t and he’d have it so screwed up… 
Thanks!