I wonder how often kids nowadays are using the modern variation on the old "the dog ate my homework" excuse. Well, it actually did eat my daughter's homework, she spent hours researching and writing a magazine-type one page two column report with pictures, and while typing in her "sources" at the end, the program burped, and all that was left was a corrupted, non-recoverable file.
Luckily, she had printed out a draft earlier, so, being the fastest typer of the family, I was volunteered to type it back in. But I was philosophically opposed to typing it back into MS Works, so I installed Open Office. This being a multi-user XP system, I followed the special installation instructions, and ignored the pleas of "just type it back into Works", and answered questions of "does it have the same fonts?", "can you paste in pictures", and "can you format it the same?" with "yes, dammit" (though not as absolutely sure as I sounded). At one point, it was taking me a few seconds too long to figure out how to make columns, and my daughter said "I like Microsoft better"...and I responded "which orphanage do you like better?" :-)
Anyway, I was able to type it all back in, format it with pictures and all as good or better than before, and print it out. I never remember things being this painless with Works or Word. And if I'm able to figure it out, I think anyone, even a 10 year old, can do it too. And I'll let you know if OO ever eats my homework.
