For what he wants to do, a mid-low range PC will last for quite a while, probably through to the next OS. I can't imagine the next Windows OS requiring more than 4 GB of RAM, and if it does then you can just upgrade. The one concern would be harddrive space, so don't skimp too much on that.
Processors no longer are getting faster. We've hit a wall with heat sinking that we haven't been able to surmount yet. You'll be fine for a while, as long as you don't care about gaming.
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