I am the friend / neighbor's kid / guy you know that builds everyone's computers. When you get a computer from me it will be stable, clean, cheap, and loaded with open source software. Sadly, I have had to add a step to my Open Office install otherwise these less then computer literate people will have purchased Microsoft Office within a week. I have to set the default file formats to Microsoft standard.
I understand all the advantages of the open formats. I also understand that these formats will never be used unless people give up the crutch that is proprietary formats. Sadly, the only thing my elderly neighbors know is that they wrote a letter to a friend and their friend was unable to read it. The thing is, my neighbors are actually quite good at using their computer. When they went to save for the first time, they informed Open Office they wanted to use the .doc format, because it was the only one they recognized. What scared them into switching was the very large, very confusing message telling them that making this choice would cause them to lose data. Some people may say, "They should spend the time to learn the difference." but my elderly neighbors and their friends just want their grand kids to do homework at their house. All I saw was some people born long before the word processor getting excited about open source software. Free and just as good as Word? Lets tell our friends. Then I came over to do some additional installs for them and there were the Microsoft logos staring at me. I suggest the following. Add a screen to the install that allows you to pick a set of formats that Open Office will use by default. Default to the open ones, but provide a clear option for the "usual" ones. I have attached a screen shot as an example. Thank you for your time. -- "If at first, the idea is not absurd, then there is no hope for it." - Albert Einstein
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