news: op.t7s2zm10c3xi7v@news.povray.org...

> But do the people who don't use the solver or VBA have the option of 
> removing it from their installation? What features are deemed integral to 
> the programme? We've chastised Andy for not knowing about Styles in Word, 
> but how many home users do? Yet there the code sits taking up space, 
> poised for use.

My point is only that one cannot claim that some features are useless when 
they are actually used intensively by parts of the user base. Is MS supposed 
to make styles optional because Andy couldn't figure them out? User 
requirements are real. Lots of people who are serious about using a word 
processor need styles and collaboration tools. Lots of people who are 
serious about using spreadsheets need automation. Lots of people who work 
with presentation software need to embed video.

There's no denying that there's a bloat issue with many major applications. 
Word 2003 had 31 toolbars and 1500 commands... Even Adobe plans a thorough 
cleanup of the Photoshop interface. Still the solution is not to assume that 
"most users" are a bunch of dummies who don't need better than what was 
available in 1990. And about home users, my 75-year-old dad may not use 
styles, but he still enjoys Word's ability to work flawlessly with bilingual 
documents with parts written in different character sets. Is he an 
exception? I don't think so.

G.

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