Help Files are no Help at all

Picture the scene: one you're probably familiar with. You're working to a deadline on your computer and you come across a software function you're not familiar with.
Do you: A) Soldier on and wing it. Or B) Trust in the software writer and go for the help icon.
If you usually go for A good luck to you; if you go for B I'll wager you usually end up chewing your fingers and picking a window for the poor PC (it's not its fault!! stop picking on it.) I blame it all on the software writers, which let's face it aren't teachers or trainers, they expect the software to work like a dream and the end user to be a know it all (which we aren't).

Why aren't help files helpful?

It's because software writers, quite rightly, concentrate on getting the program to work not on whether you might get stuck using it. But it's very frustrating to hit the help button, spend an age searching for the topic, only to find a confusing dead end. Which is usually a list of hyper-link headings which don't meet what you're looking for.

I'm going to start a one man mission to change all this. Help files should be just that, a place where the lost and confused find a place of refuge and met deadlines. A place where software users find answers easily and in a style that suits all learning styles. I've been on courses to learn software and STILL been stuck three weeks later. With the power of the web only a hyper-link away, software writers have no excuse to tap in to the power of I.T trainers (i.e. me!)

open source is under rated.

There are several valid reasons for using Open Source software
1. It's Free!
2. It's productive and useful
3. It's always advancing with updates
4. Its userbase is growing

So,from the above, Open Source has a lot going for it. All the major titles are stable and solid pieces of software. The world of business is starting to take note,just have a look at all the phone companies that are currently using Google Android.
The home user market is growing but, I think, needs a killer app for people to sit up and think beyond Microsoft and all the other cash cows, that fill the shelves of PC World. The average user just doesn't think (or care ) before they get what they need, maybe the global recession will, hopefully, make them shop around. It doesn't, let's be honest, take all that much of a Google search to find free and amazing software: it's all under their noses.

Open Source, is THE hidden secret of the computing world, Linux, for instance, now has the measure of Microsoft; you don't have to be a boffin anymore to use it. It's the same with(I'll say it) ALL Open Source offerings; it's there all you got to do is go get it.

small business sector wastes millions every year!

The above headline placed on any business newspaper would send shockwaves through the business community. But this is exactly what SME's and sole-traders do when they purchase off the shelf software, whether it be office productivity, graphics packages or web design software.

All this is bad enough, but, to add insult to injury this newly-purchased-with hard-earned-cash software is not even put through its paces; the old software adage '80% of users only use 20% of the features' springs to mind.

Thankfully, the Open Source software community provides great answers. Open Office, for example, provides all the productivity tools Mr. Gates's offering has and more that most end users would be happy with, and getting to grips with it is no great shakes either.

So the next time you're in the market for software give the Open Source option a good coat of looking at; Best of all there's no shopping involved and your wallet stays where it is.

welcome to open sources training blog

hi and welcome here you'll find all the lastest news and views on open source software and training issues. I hope you'll find this blog useful.

Chris