Not all of you know this, but I work in the exciting and rewarding field of IT field. As an IT professional (and I use that last word VERY loosely) in a non graphics-related, non west-coast, non-marketing company, we use Microsoft products.
***** I’m not against Apple. I am heavily in favor of them. They’re neat. I am heavily in favor of them for people that have more disposable income than most folks, maybe folks that don’t have kids or at least don’t have young kids, folks that want to put one of those stupid-ass white apple stickers on their Subaru. The Mac is in your wheelhouse. That’s fine. I’m happy for you. Especially when you look down at me and sneer despite having spent three times what I did for half the equipment, and all so you can run your iPod with your iPhone. That’s great. Oh, and I won’t mention that the software is more expensive and there isn’t nearly as much of it available. But I digress…*****
Now, since we’re past all of that, I defend Microsoft most of the time. I don’t play the "They’re monopolistic / mean / bullies / corporate devils" card. They are good at what they do, and without them, we would still be using slide rules, compasses, pocket protectors, and princess trimline phones and stopping at nasty-ass gas stations to make phone calls on payphones covered in every disease-riddled fluid known to man. So before you shit on the evil Bill Gates and Microsoft, give a thought to what you’d be doing right now instead of reading this on your pc.
Well, you’d probably be acting productive and working, but that’s neither here nor there.
Anywho, I had a user ask me to change the default view of the file listing he sees when he opens PowerPoint for Office 2003. No problem, I figure. So I go over and do the normal stuff related to changing that view elsewhere in Windows, but no dice.
So I hit the interweb and ask TKOATITW (The Knower Of All Things In The World)…
I bet you thought I was going to say my dad, but no. I meant Google.
And Google pointed me right away to an article in Microsoft’s vast knowledgebase (item number 915402 if you care), which said:
"This behavior occurs because PowerPoint 2003 does not permanently save the view setting that is configured in the Open dialog box. By default, the Open dialog box uses the Preview view. This behavior is by design."
My question is, why? What dumbshit sat in a room and said "Hey, I know people are used to being able to change the default view of how their files look when they use the Open dialog box in our applications. But I say FUCK THEM! What are they going to do about it? Buy a Mac? Use Open Office? Please."
So I scroll down a little further and see the section that says Resolution. HOORAY!!! It says:
"This problem is corrected in Office 2003 Service Pack 3. To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Office 2003. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Method 1: Configure the Open dialog box in PowerPoint 2003 to retain the view that you previously selected
Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Exit PowerPoint 2003.
- Click Start , click Run , type regedit in the Open box, and then click OK .
- Locate, and then click the following registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find
- Add the Microsoft PowerPoint registry subkey. To do this, follow these steps:
- On the Edit menu, point to New , and then click Key .
- Type Microsoft PowerPoint , and then press ENTER.
- Add the Settings subkey. To do this:
- Click the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint subkey that you created in step 4.
- On the Edit menu, point to New , and then click Key .
- Type Settings , and then press ENTER.
- Add the Open subkey. To do this, follow these steps:
- Click the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint\Settings subkey that you created in step 5.
- On the Edit menu, point to New , and then click Key .
- Type Open , and then press ENTER.
- Add the View subkey. To do this, follow these steps:
- Click the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\11.0\Common\Open Find\Microsoft PowerPoint\Settings\Open subkey that you created in step 5.
- On the Edit menu, point to New , and then click Key .
- Type View , and then press ENTER.
- Click Exit on the File menu to exit Registry Editor.
Method 2: Use the Views button in the Open dialog box to select the view that you want every time that you start PowerPoint 2003
To do this, follow these steps:
- Start PowerPoint 2003.
- Click Open on the File menu.
- Click the Views button, and then click the view that you want.
- Repeat step 2 and step 3 every time that you start PowerPoint 2003.
What say you?