[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote on 13/09/2005 10:56:40:
> I think there may be some people who have the opinion that > OpenOffice > was developed by computer geeks, more or less FOR computer geeks, > and not for a > fairly typical user who just wants the computer to be a handy tool,and not > something that he/she needs to work hard at to understand the nuts and bolts > of. This seems very much the case. The people I've recruited into using the program are still a bit suspicious that it's something which is designed for programmers -- and that's why the documentation project is so important in helping them to understand how the program can be used, and why it's vital that using it is made as easy as possible. > .xls, etc. wasn't an issue. However, if I had had MS Office, I do > think I would > have been a bit miffed if this new program "took over" the file associations > that had previously been MS Office ones. Even if it had been my ignorant > mistake during the installation. Absolutely. There seem to be a lot of people confused by something which to many of those helping users is a very basic concept. The number of them makes this an important issue. I wonder how many people successfully uninstall the program having had this problem because they aren't sure where to go for help. For what it's worth, I thought the explanation in the Beta2 installer was quite clear -- and as far as I recall the default is that OOo does *not* associate with Office documents. It might be worth considering moving the file association change to a setup dialog on first use, where the user is less concerned about getting the program onto their computer -- and perhaps incorporating dictionary/thesaurus settings, autocorrect functions etc into that. With an option to skip and accept defaults, as well as the option to run the basic setup (presumably a macro like the dictionary wizard) again, this might avoid first-time users having to go through the normal routes to setting options, giving them the opportunity to use the program without reading the manual to start with. I know they should, but if OOo is to gain wider adoption by people who don't care how or why it works, we have to accept that many people won't look at readme files, manuals or even help in the installation process.
