LibreOffice version 4

[Tim]

Allegedly, on or about 09 February 2013, Joe Zeff sent:
> Much of what made Windows and MS Office so popular was their
> consistent "Look and Feel."  Learn one, you were close to learning
> all.

While the reason is true (people like consistency), the actuality is
that office was forever changing how you used it.  That seems even more
the case with Windows users, who usually learn by rote, following a
precise recipe of steps, rather than understand the principles of what
they're trying to do.  I know people who've gone on a course that taught
them how to use just a few of the special features of office, but can't
do the same thing on a later release of the same software.

I use several computers, and it's really annoying to have to use
different software on each of them.  When I go to click on a toolbar
icon, very few of the icons clearly represent what they mean, some are
highly obscure, and they're not all in the same locations.  Evolution
mail on Fedora 17 being a prime example, twice I've printed junk mail,
rather than trash it, because the icon was so indistinct.  It's even
more annoying when programs change hotkeys.

What you end up getting used to is reaching for icons in certain
positions.  And the same applies for menus.  That's termed, "muscle
memory," by some, and is the technique that most musicians that read
music and play without looking at their fingers, are used to.  You're
used to things being in certain places, relative to other things, and
you can automatically reach for them.

Unfortunately, with different releases of software, and whole operating
systems, that stuff changes all over the place (the positions change,
features disappear, et cetera).  And is a key reason why a lot of people
object to replacing their software.


-- 
[tim at localhost ~]$ uname -rsvp
Linux 3.7.3-101.fc17.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Jan 18 17:40:57 UTC 2013 x86_64

All mail to my mailbox is automatically deleted, there is no point
trying to privately email me, I will only read messages posted to the
public lists.