Installation options

[Woody44]

I am still using Windows 10. I do not own any computers that will run Windows 11. To make Windows 10 more user-friendly, I run an add-on (extension?) called Open Shell, which emulates the appearance of the Windows 7 task bar and Start menu. On top of that, I have manually configured a Windows 7 style Quick Launch toolbar in the task bar.

When the Beta installed, it automatically pinned TextMaker, PlanMaker, and Presentations to my task bar, outside of the Quick Launch area. I didn't expect that, I didn't ask for that, and I didn't want that. I had to manually delete them.

This should not be automatic behavior. There should be a dialogue box during Setup that asks if you want copies of the app icons pinned to the taskbar.

[SuperTech]

You can run a custom install and uncheck the pinning option.

[Woody44]

You can run a custom install and uncheck the pinning option.

Okay. But ... this is a Beta version, which you put out there for the purpose of soliciting feedback from end users. I didn't post to request tech support on this issue. I posted to offer feedback. My feedback is that, since in most cases a "custom" installation of a suite essentially allows the user to choose NOT to install certain modules of the suite, most users simply default to skipping the custom installation because they want the entire suite. Hiding what I believe should be a choice for ALL users inside the custom installation is not the best way to do it.

Most programs have a pop-up toward the end of the installation routine that asks:

• Create Start menu item?
• Create taskbar icon?
• Pin app to taskbar?
• Launch [app]?

I have to say that I have been an occasional beta tester for software since the 1980s, and this is the first time I have ever had a software company want to argue with constructive feedback that was offered in good faith.

[martin-k]

This behavior is not new. It has been in the software for around 6 years, and yours is (I think) the first report requesting a different default behavior.

It seems most people are fine with the default behavior or at least not bothered enough to request a change.

We consider your request as a data point counting you as someone who doesn't like the default behavior. If a significant number of change requests come in, we will reconsider.

[Woody44]

Thank you for the response, Martin.

The behavior is not so horrible that it was insurmountable. It's not difficult to unpin the icons from the taskbar. If encountered in a finished product, I would simply delete the icons and move on. The point isn't that this is impossible, or even that it's difficult. The point is that the software publisher should NOT be deciding for the end user how they use their computer. It should be MY decision whether or not I want the icons pinned. (I don't.) Forcing your users to accept your defaults is not the behavior of a company that purports to support user privacy. This is Microsoft behavior. Microsoft Outlook still adds an icon to my Quick Launch tray periodically. I don't want an icon for Outlook in my Quick Launch tray. It's infuriating when I se it and have to delete it -- again, and again.

This is different. This is not a finished program in mainstream distribution. This is a beta program. The entire purpose of a beta program is to allow users to identify things that could be improved. This is one of those things.

I am a confessed software junkie. I look at and try a wide variety of programs -- that's how I discovered FreeOffice in 2019, and then migrated to SoftMaker Office 2021 in 2023. I have since upgraded to SoftMaker Office 2024 Professional. Because I install, test, and then discard a lot more programs than most people have even heard of, I can report that automatically pinning the app icons to the task bar is not the way "most" (in my experience) programs handle this. "Most" programs ask, usually offering (as a default) a list of options such as I outlined in my previous post.

The fact that you previously did it the way you do it does not make it right, or best. All that establishes is that you did it that way before.

In the days of MS-DOS, I used an establish British desktop publishing program. It was good, but it was not WYSIWIG. I (and other users) requested that the next release offer a WYSIWIG working interface. The company insisted that was impossible. A competitor came to market, offering a WYSIWIG interface. This was, literally, within a couple of months after the British publisher had assured me that a WYSIWIG interface was impossible. Within about six months after the competitor was introduced, the British company released a new version, with a WYSIWIG interface.

Inertia is not a valid reason for resisting improvement.

[martin-k]

This is not about inertia. This is about asking as few questions as possible during the setup process.

When installing a program, some customers want to have full control. This is what a custom install is for, and I always use this, with any program, to see what the program offers and what I could configure. But for most users, setup is not something they want to tinker with. They want to get the installation done ASAP and that's why the defaults are what they are. And it seems they are happy or at least not unhappy with them.

As I said, we take your dislike as a data point. That's all I can offer at the moment.

[ITFlip]

I agree with the suggestion. Please add me as a data point as well.
Although easy to deal with, it is annoying to have to delete the icons added that I did not want.

I never made this suggestion before, but it has always been annoying over the years to deal with this after every installation.
The reasons I did not mention it previously are because it does not affect functionality of the product and because it was such an obvious issue that I assumed it would eventually be corrected.

The suggestion would bring SoftMaker Office installation in line with other products.
Still a great product I will continue using