[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
IIRC here was a word count before, the only problem was that people did
not find it. I am very glad that usability problems like this have been
finally adressed.
There wasn't a "Word Count" there was a buried feature called "Statistics" in the "Properties" option of the file menu. This panel had, among other things, a total word count. The new Word Count will be able to do much more than just count *all* the words in the document - it can handle selections as well (that is counting all the highlighted words). It will also be listed as "Word Count" - something that normal users understand and recognize. In most programs (and I don't just mean MS Office, I mean virtually any application with a "File" menu) the word "Properties" has nothing to do with count words. It's where you set up options for the overall program. Not where you find information about the file you have open. If anyone thinks that this is a hypothetical situation based on the assumption that end users are idiots - please check the users list archives for "Word count" and see how many hundreds of times (literally) that question has been asked.
While I personally would prefer the previous behaviour by a large margin
(I think that the change is motivated by a misguided sense of
"neatness"), I am very glad that there is one preference less. Good
riddance.
Two things here - I understand OOo is a unique program and isn't striving to be like everybody else. I also understand that any hint of OOo being a "MS Office clone" is a capital offense. However when every program on earth does something the same way - there is likely a good reason. I'm not saying it should be accepted blindly, but it is at least something to look into. Everyone program I've every used (and I have over 15 word processors or office suites that I play with and test) starts the cursor at the top of the document whenever you open it. That's normal. That's standard. That's what people expect. If I opened a document and it jumped to the 3rd word in the 4th sentence of the 2nd paragraph on page 157 of chapter 6 - I'd be a little concerned. I'd think it was a bug - like it didn't shut down properly or something.
Now, on to point two....
OpenOffice has about 500 preferences last time I counted them very roughly. *Anything* that reduces preferences is a good thing.
AMEN!
We had a long discussion not too long ago about the proper number of choices. Choice is a good thing, but too many choices is a bad thing. OpenOffice.org's preferences have way too many choices, and is very poorly designed. I hate messing with that thing, because it's too daunting a task to try and find anything in that massive tome of a dialog box. Functionality and choices is great - but when it gets in the way of simply getting the job done - it's time to cut back. This was a useless option that very few people knew existed and even fewer used. I'm glad to get one more option *OFF* the list.
The current preferences dialog is just not comprehensible for theLOL! I can't believe that's in there! What *possible* need does that meet? When the heck would you want the mouse to jump around when you opened OOo? That's just stupid.
average user. Even experienced users frequently overlook stuff
after using the program for years, because this thing is too
bloated, with useless preferences for completely nonsensical stuff like http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=31188
I'd rather have some useful features removed and some sensible
defaults (like restoring cursor position) messed up than never getting rid of crap like http://qa.openoffice.org/issues/show_bug.cgi?id=31190
that is just scary to naive users.
Ain't it the truth. Looking at the preferences box is like trying to fly a 747 when all you want to do is use an elevator. The "image cache" should be either set to a standard level, or automatically detected and controlled by the program.
But that is a very good reason! OpenOffice should meet the user's expectation, not the other way round. Most users never set or use theAmen again. OOo should meet user needs - not cause user problems. I understand that with any program there will be a learning curve, but there is no need to make the curve any more steep than it has to be. Putting some "Ugly" file extension in the title bar is perfectly fine. Especially if the user has more than one file with the same name. I mean, what if you have an RTF file, an OOT file, and a DOC file all named Resume.XXX - If you are editing one for a particular reason, it might make sense to know - at a glance - which one you've got open.
document title, and therefore the filename is a very sane choice for the window title. While it might not be as "nice" as the document
title, it will certainly be more helpful in finding the document again
at a later time, after they have stored it away somewhere.
Even if I think that some of the changes in the 2.0 version are
not for the better, but for the worse (I do think your example 1 is a change for the worse) I am very glad, that *any* usability
work in OpenOffice slowly starts.
Certiainly there is a huge room for improvement, but please do give people some time. Making OpenOffice more comprehensible to users is a gigantic task, and it won't show final results within a short timeframe -- but within a few iterations stuff *will* fall into place.
/ralph -- who wants to thank UI design people for the great work they have done so far. 2.0 will be a great release.
Here here! I'm grateful for the GUI improvement.
-Chad Smith
