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From: Michael Scheff on 7 Apr 2010 01:16
Open Office Writer has imitated some of the worst features of Microsoft Word '97 formatting. Two examples:

1. Location of Page Numbers.

After trying just about everything I could think of, I still found it impossible to put page numbers in the upper right corner of a document.

The program's default is page numbers in the lower right corner, with no simple choice available for upper right corner page numbering. Yet novels, screenplays, journals, etc., require the page number to be in the upper right hand corner of the page. Selecting the location of page numbering should be simple and transparent For instance, Under the heading, Page Numbering, there should be a list of choices as to where the user would like the page number to be. Simple. (BTW. I still don't know how to put page numbers in the upper right corner of the page.) .

2. Automatic Paragraph Numbering.

The default for automatic paragraph numbering is single spacing. The result might look like this.

1. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
2. More blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah,
more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah.

But suppose you want a double space between paragraphs so the result might look like this:

1. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,

2. More blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah,
more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah, more blah.

Well, just try and figure out how to accomplish that double space between automatic numbered paragraphs. It is extremely difficult to accomplish and not intuitive at all. (I still haven't figured out how to do this either!)

I feel that one of the goals for Open Office Writer is not to copy the horrors of Microsoft Word, but to create a much simpler and more intuitive interface for the user. These are just two examples. I'm sure each of you can supply more. BTW. If anyone knows how to accomplish the above two items, please shoot me an email. If not, just shoot me.


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