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SoftwareConfig

This provides you with helpful preference configuration. I decided to separate it from the installation because this probably requires you to open up the stupid program individually, whereas you can write a script to install everything that you use.

MPlayer Problems

Error Parsing Option

If you try to use mplayer and you get an error that says Error parsing option flip-hebrew=no at line 133, try this:

  sudo sed -i 's/flip-hebrew/#flip-hebrew/' /etc/mplayer/mplayer.conf

Sound Problem

1. If you get an error like [AO_ALSA] Unable to find simple control 'PCM',0., you'll need to change the default Audio utility to use Pulse instead of Alsa. Just open the player, right click, Preferences, Audio, make the change.
2. Several sources talk about other sound problems that I haven't had. The quickest solution I've found is here, and says that you edit ~/.mplayer/config and add:
   ao="alsa" autosync="30"

OpenOffice

The following all require you to open the configuration under Tools >> Options

Load and Save in MS Office Format

1. Expand the OpenOffice.org tab
2. Go to Paths
3. Select My Documents and press Edit
4. Change the path to wherever you want

Setting the Default to Microsoft XP formats

1. Expand Load/Save
2. Change the Save Autorecovery Information Every to 1 or 2 minutes. It just makes a lot more sense.
3. Under Default File Format you can set the following to use Microsoft formats by default (if you're into new-fangled formats, you can also set it to use Microsoft 2003 XML, but this is used quite rarely):
   1. Text document >> Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP
   2. Spreadsheet >> Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP
   3. Presentation >> Microsoft PowerPoint 97/2000/XP

Notes on Default vs Complete OpenOffice Install

As noted at http://www.melvilletheatre.com/articles/openoffice-fedora/index.html, the OpenOffice.org installed by Fedora by default is not quite the official one and it might be missing some nifty features (like video in OOImpress (PowerPoint replacement)). I recommend you go to that website to reinstall the newest and fullest version of ooffice. This is not for the faint of heart, and I haven't done it yet.