In the past few days, and after a long search, I received as an eBay purchase a Word 5 manual (the original user's manual from Microsoft).
This may not seem a big deal, except that a) I got ripped off on here within the last 12 months by someone who took my money and failed to deliver on a full set of manuals from 92-93; except that B) I used Word 5 right through the 90s without a manual (it was a legal copy, but purchased through my university under an educational license and sold without documentation), and I never really got to grips with all its features; and except that c) I really like software manuals, without which I find it hard to work out how to use a software program to full advantage. The online help is no substitute, I find, though it is a very useful supplement to an actual book.
One of the good things about Microsoft applications — from which Apple could afford to learn a thing or two — is that the same products do work in much the same way over years and years, so that the products are in that sense very user-centred. I expect that much of what I could never figure out about Word 5 will be transferrable to Word 2008, which is these days my main working tool.
Yes, I know, this is heresy among the Apple faithful, but the Apple faithful have got this arse about face. It's actually Microsoft that does things in a consistent way, so as to make things reasonably easy for the user. If only their OS were not such a PoS....
I have a growing collection of old software manuals. Anyone else on here collect them?
This may not seem a big deal, except that a) I got ripped off on here within the last 12 months by someone who took my money and failed to deliver on a full set of manuals from 92-93; except that B) I used Word 5 right through the 90s without a manual (it was a legal copy, but purchased through my university under an educational license and sold without documentation), and I never really got to grips with all its features; and except that c) I really like software manuals, without which I find it hard to work out how to use a software program to full advantage. The online help is no substitute, I find, though it is a very useful supplement to an actual book.
One of the good things about Microsoft applications — from which Apple could afford to learn a thing or two — is that the same products do work in much the same way over years and years, so that the products are in that sense very user-centred. I expect that much of what I could never figure out about Word 5 will be transferrable to Word 2008, which is these days my main working tool.
Yes, I know, this is heresy among the Apple faithful, but the Apple faithful have got this arse about face. It's actually Microsoft that does things in a consistent way, so as to make things reasonably easy for the user. If only their OS were not such a PoS....
I have a growing collection of old software manuals. Anyone else on here collect them?