RE: Start button/Program menu in Windows Vista

["Combs, Richard" <richard -dot- combs -at- Polycom -dot- com>]

Paul Hanson wrote:
 
> I was looking at this page:
> http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/web/expert/bowman_vis
> tapreview.
> mspx and in the "Find your programs on the Start menu" 
> section, I noticed that the "Start" button is now an icon. 
> Also, the entire navigation to an app on the Start menu has 
> been changed to have an entry field where the user types the 
> name of the app. 
> 
> Has anyone had to address this specific user interface change 
> in their doc? 

Well, yes -- Microsoft's tech writers have no doubt addressed it. 

Unless your audience consists largely of complete computer novices, and
you've assumed the responsibility for teaching them all the basics
("What's a window? What's a button? How do you use the mouse? ..."), why
would you write to this level of detail about a basic feature of the
operating system, something people encounter with all kinds of other
applications and tasks besides yours? 

If, for some reason, you _have_ assumed the responsibility for teaching
novices all the basics, IMHO you should do it in a separate "How to use
your computer / Windows" document, rather than repeating in excrutiating
detail how to start an application each and every time the subject comes
up. 

Unless you're being paid by the word, of course. ;-)

Richard


------
Richard G. Combs
Senior Technical Writer
Polycom, Inc.
richardDOTcombs AT polycomDOTcom
303-223-5111
------
rgcombs AT gmailDOTcom
303-777-0436
------




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