manuals for your programs

[Red Cherokee]

You should supply manuals for your programs. I just spent $184.00 for
Microsoft Publisher 2003 and it came without a manual. I do not like to go
into help and then out again to learn the program, it is very frustrating.
You should send FREE manuals to all that have purchased your programs without
manuals. I have approximately twenty Microsoft programs on just one of my
three computers and I will check to see if the programs have manuals before I
purchase any in the future.


----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-f65f9a0e077e&dg=microsoft.public.office.misc

 

[Bob I]

Printed documentation is an added cost item. Spend your money, as you
see fit.

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

You have to remember that Publisher is a 'creative' program.. there are many
templates supplied as standard which give you a head start.. it is entirely
up to you how you move or mess with them.. that is half the fun of
Publisher..

For a quick reference, try this..

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1932104178/002-7594885-8468804?v=glance

 

[Harlan Grove]

Bob I wrote...

Printed documentation is an added cost item. Spend your money, as you
see fit.

Microsoft provided hardcopy manuals with Excel 5 and Word 6 back when
they still had effective competition. Odd how manuals disappeared once
Microsoft obtained a lock on the market. One might almost take this as
a sign of rational monopolistic behavior.

 

[JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP]]

Barnes & Nobel has a nice little $10 getting started-type book for Publisher
and many other programs.

As for checking for manuals - you can't open the box to find out because
then you may not be able to return it. Very few programs come with printed
manuals these days. It *does* take some getting used to but you can't search
a book like you can online documentation.

 

[Red Cherokee]

Then maybe they should put some on the market w/manuals and some without
then everyone could choose.

 

[Red Cherokee]

I do a lot of brochures, banners, cards, and posters in my card program,
which are very creative as I start with a blank, but the card programs all
come with manuals to explain different things.

 

[Red Cherokee]

Thank you for the information about the starter-type book I will check it out
the next time I get to Erie, PA which is the closest Barnes & Nobel to me.

Barnes & Nobel has a nice little $10 getting started-type book for Publisher
and many other programs.

As for checking for manuals - you can't open the box to find out because
then you may not be able to return it. Very few programs come with printed
manuals these days. It *does* take some getting used to but you can't search
a book like you can online documentation.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]

You should supply manuals for your programs. I just spent $184.00 for
Microsoft Publisher 2003 and it came without a manual. I do not like to
go
into help and then out again to learn the program, it is very frustrating.
You should send FREE manuals to all that have purchased your programs
without
manuals. I have approximately twenty Microsoft programs on just one of my
three computers and I will check to see if the programs have manuals
before I
purchase any in the future.


----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow
this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...-f65f9a0e077e&dg=microsoft.public.office.misc

 

[Red Cherokee]

Maybe Microsoft should offer the programs with and without manuals so that
customers could choose.

 

[David R. Norton MVP]

Thank you for the information about the starter-type book I will check
it out the next time I get to Erie, PA which is the closest Barnes &
Nobel to me.

Barnes and Noble is right here, you don't need to go anywhere.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/

 

[Bob I]

And the competition doesn't?

If you have purchased a license copy of WordPerfect Office 12 or the
Student and Teacher Edition and would like to purchase manuals, please
contact Customer Service at 1-800-772-6735.

 

[Harlan Grove]

Bob I wrote...

And the competition doesn't?

If you have purchased a license copy of WordPerfect Office 12 or the
Student and Teacher Edition and would like to purchase manuals, please
contact Customer Service at 1-800-772-6735.

You're getting into an argument of who did what first. Office 97 came
with a single book of several hundred pages that discussed all the apps
briefly. It wasn't a manual in the strict sense. It wasn't much of a
how-to guide either. I also bought Lotus SmartSuite 97 that same year
(1997!), and it came with a few bound books, none of which were full
manuals. However, the SmartSuite CD did come with full manuals on the
CD which users could print at their own option. Rather more flexible
than Office 97.

As for what's happened since, everyone in commercial 'productivity'
software follows Microsoft's lead. Since the competition needs to
charge less than half what Microsoft does in order to have a chance of
survival, no big surprise that they no longer include manuals either.

 

[Bob I]

And you won't find an AutoCAD 2005 printed manual. Or tape player in the
dash of any new car. Things change. It's not some big conspiracy.

 

[Harlan Grove]

Bob I wrote...

And you won't find an AutoCAD 2005 printed manual. Or tape player in the
dash of any new car. Things change. It's not some big conspiracy.

Dunno about tape players for cars, but all the noncomouter electronics
I've bought in the last 2 years or so have come with hardcopy manuals -
TV, microwave/convection oven, portable DVD player, even Gameboys.
Seems only computer harware and software don't come with manuals,
though Mathematica may be a notable exception. My last full upgrade
came with its own copy of the 1000+ page Mathematica book.

It's one thing not to provide hardcopy manuals with the CD but provide
manuals as freely downloadable PDF files. It's quite another to charge
extra for manuals. Yes, times change. Not always for the better.

 

[Bob I]

I'm guessing that the PC life span is so short that printed manuals were
deemed "frivolous", and file/online support was the way to cut costs. I
would think that discarding 1000's of printed manuals of old versions
isn't necessarily inexpensive either. Personally I like paper, but then
I keep everything "forever".

 

[Harlan Grove]

Bob I wrote...

I'm guessing that the PC life span is so short that printed manuals were
deemed "frivolous", and file/online support was the way to cut costs. I
would think that discarding 1000's of printed manuals of old versions
isn't necessarily inexpensive either. Personally I like paper, but then
I keep everything "forever".

....

Good point about keeping things forever, but I've made a number of hand
annotations to my Excel 5 VBA manual, and it's LOTS more valuable to me
than any of the more recent online versions.