Comments on: 7 Days of M1530: Setting Up Your New Computer – Beginner User

By: InTheLoop

InTheLoop — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:32:27 +0000

Ryan – I added the word.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:43:05 +0000

Forgot the word “wife” in the second sentence … My bad

By: Ryan

Ryan — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:36:47 +0000

I’ll have to agree with the auto DOC file save. My wife just wants everything to work. She couldn’t give a dingos kidney if the file architecture is open or from mars as long as she can get to her school papers whenever and where ever she is. She must be able to open it if she is at a school computer lab or if she turned it in as homework. Also she is NOT going to be happy with OO telling her that she will “lose features” if she saves it as a DOC. She doesn’t know what that means and really doesn’t care as long as the paper looks the same the next time she opens it. I’ve spread more OO copies merely by telling people, “It is exactly like stealing MS Office, except it’s legal.” If you want to balance between getting people to use the better file type just offer it as the first choice when saving a new file. However if they have already chosen or have opened a file that is already a DOC keep it as such. Forcing people to download OO.o is not the answer. They will just get pissy and hate you for forcing them to do something like this.

By: yonnie

yonnie — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 03:01:33 +0000

I always send in odf format! I always attach a link to openoffice.org when it’s doubtful the recip. may not know what it is. If they still can’t figure it out then I send in doc format.

Can’t get converts without spreading the religion!

By: tracyanne

tracyanne — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 20:56:05 +0000

quote::Set OpenOffice to Automatically Save in the Microsoft .doc Format

Don’t do this. Windows users who have installed OO.o rarely, if ever, set OO.o to .doc, unless they are technically sophisticated. By not setting this, Windows users who receive OO.o documents are forced to download and install OO.o. I’ve seen this in action, at our local small town newspaper, where contributors, who obviously have windows with OO.o installed, have sent in ODT documents, and the editor downloaded OO.o, so he could use the documents.

By: Monty

Monty — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:11:24 +0000

Concerning 1, 2 & 3…if they are just going to keep doing things the Windows way (MS Office doc format, program icons on the desktop like Windows and running Windows through dual boot or virtually) wouldn’t they have been better off buying a Windows laptop and adding Ubuntu later. Maybe new users should be encouraged to do things a little less Windows like instead of encouraging them to still find ways to get their Windows fix. Not the first 3 things I would want to present to a new Ubuntu Dell owner.

By: johnH

johnH — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:16:02 +0000

I question your number one (1) suggestion. Unless one has to send lots of document files, then saving to ODF file is better. I have found that I rarely have to send a document, and then I usually send it as a PDF, rather than an ODF file or .doc, xls, etc. file. Besides I like to store my files as ODF as they are compressed and take less space on my hard drive. An ODF file can be one tenth the size of a .doc or .xls file, so there is a good reason fro saving in ODF files.

By: Manolis Christodoulou

Manolis Christodoulou — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 17:12:30 +0000

The 1st advice is completely wrong. Instead of this, you could write a summary of open versus closed formats and let the user decide what fits him/her best.

But advising a new user to save in closed formats is totally wrong IMHO.

By: zaine_ridling

zaine_ridling — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:38:49 +0000

Totally disagree with #1: “Set OpenOffice to Automatically Save in the Microsoft .doc Format.”

ODF is an ISO open format developed using open standards. Microsoft’s binary .doc format is still deeply dependent on Windows’ APIs.
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Thanks for the links to the Ubuntu codecs, but jeez, that’s seriously expensive for those! I can buy a DVD player cheaper than either set.

By: Robert Pogson

Robert Pogson — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 02:20:42 +0000

.doc? No way. Stick with ODF and use export as PDF if you need to send something to the less fortunate.

Desktop shortcuts? Put them in the panel so you can see them around various windows you have open. Right-click on the panel and select “add to panel”

I would not recommend dual booting/virtualization to a newbie. They likely have no lock-in to M$ anyway. Find what works for them in the repositories. You rarely need an application that imitates some stuff that only runs in that other OS. You need stuff that helps you create, find, change and communicate data. There are many ways to do that besides running a particular application. For many individuals the purpose of a PC is to play media, write documents, e-mail and browsing. There are lots of choices in GNU/Linux.