Windows Full Install (English x86)

Initial Conditions

1. The first build tested from Apache OpenOffice is identified as OpenOffice.org 3.4.0 OOO340m1 (Build:9584). Is is the 2011-12-15 Developer Snapshot uploaded by Raphael Bircher. The file is identified OOo_3.4.0_Win_x86_install_en_US.exe.

1. The installation begins with the installer downloaded to a file location from which it can be executed.

Initial Configuration

There are many variations of initial configuration that matter. This first run-through of the typical scenario is not the simplest but accounts for possible interactions with existing installations.

This instance of the scenario is using a configuration of Windows Vista that already has three other ODF-supporting applications installed:

Observations

• The previous version of OpenOffice.org is OO.o 3.3.0-it, installed as an experiment around differences in UI and writing aids. It was already noticed that the 3.3.0 install stole the file associations that had been previously associated with the Libre Office installation.
• The shadowed-button works well as a desktop icon/shortcut. I don't link the tint that much, but it is a recognizable, simple icon that seems useful to preserve. Taking it through a transition that blends in some sort of Apacheness over time would be interesting along with the march to ASF Top-Level Project.
• The processing model for this case is with Windows Vista Ultimate SP2 (32-bit) installed on a Windows Virtual PC under Windows 7 Ultimate. The processor is an Intel i7-980X. – dh:2011-12-20T00:11Z. The virtual display is VGA there's no Aero.

Issues/Migration

• The name associated with the desktop icon/short-cut of course.
• The tooltip acknowledges Oracle support. The other text is fine.
• This is worth describing with regard to our own build status. I record it here as part of capturing observations when they occur (for now). – dh:2011-12-18T22:19Z

Variations

• Different versions of Window
  • The next version of Windows available for testing
  • The oldest supported platform
  • One older than the oldest supported platform (for the purpose of determining what the failure is like, if any).
• Different processor/platform combinations

Download Presence

Observations

• The button icon with download arrow works very well at the small (detail) size.
• I added a date to the beginning of the downloaded file name to help me differentiate different builds. I got the date of the build wrong, but it work as a differentiator for the download and these screenshots anyhow.
• the larger button icon is great too, used in the lower left of the Windows Explorer window. It is obscured because more than one file is selected.
• the "modified" date is the local time and date when it was downloaded in this case.
• This file location is at a UNC path (i.e., \\Whs\...) to a shared folder on a file server. These work fine and I don't expect any regression. – dh:2011-12-19T00:13Z

  Issues/Migration

• (none)

Variations

• Installation from a thumb drive
• Setup from a CD-ROM
  • Simply as a file-system source
  • As an Autorun installation
  • As a gold disk with enterprise setup
• Over-network enterprise installation

Installer Startup

Installation was initiated by double-clicking the downloaded installer file.

Observations

• There are three kinds of warnings that can occur at this point. First, files that are downloaded from the internet may provoke a warning before execution is allowed. Secondly, there is some verification of the EXE (which is a problem in this case). Finally, there is a requirement for administrative operation of the installer. This message reflects at least the last two of those cases.
• The nightly builds are not signed.

Issues/Migration

• A signed .EXE is needed
  • It would be valuable for any downloadable binary to be signed although this might not work with automated nightly builds.
  • A process and appropriate ceremonies for binary releases is needed that includes signing the binary in the form that is verified by Microsoft Windows.

Variations

• Installation that doesn't require elevated privileges?
  • How failure happens when installation is attempted without sufficient privileges
• Setup of a portable version?

Installation Setup

The download sets-up in two stages. The configuration for setup is extracted from the installer executable and then setup is executed. This can be mystifying. (See observations in conjunction with the different dialogs.)

Verification of the Installer

Observations

• Here three sizes of the download button image can be seen:
  • in the detail of the installer listing in Windows Explorer
  • in the simple splash that is shown while the installer is being verified
  • in the expanded detail about the selected file shown at the bottom of the Explorer window (with super-imposed elevated-privilege marker) on the ones displaed by Windows itself
• These can be retained without difficulty and perhaps tuned slightly for differentiation to reflect Apache OpenOffice migration to a Top Leve Project.
• This verification process is against damage to the installer. It is separate from authentication of a signed executable or an external check (MD5, external signature, SHA1, etc.).

Issues/Migration

• Nothing critical

Variations

• Presumably an install from CD-ROM or a flash drive might skip much of this and work with setup folders directly. There are more variations listed at that point.
• The message needs to be internationalized for different set-up languages
• The message might need to be different because of the difference between installer and setup.

Installation Preparation

Once the installer is verified, it is discovered that the first stage is not yet complete.

Observations

• This is the first clue that we aren't doing setup yet, what has happened is that the setup installer has been verified and is now going to operation. Or perhaps the installer setup is now going into operation. The sequence of displays should be reviewed for consistency.
• The separation between what the installer installs and then what setup does could be clarified. It is not clear how this could be blended in better though.

Issues/Migration

• Dialog Title strip
  • The download button symbol appears in the left of the title band at the top of the dialog window. This can be retained.
  • The title of the dialog needs to be updated to identify what Apache OpenOffice version installation is being prepared.
• The left column has material that must be replaced for Apache OpenOffice
  • Replace the OpenOffice.org and gulls logo at the top of the column.
  • The standing gull button with shadow is useful to keep.
  • The Oracle name at the bottom of the left sidebar needs to disappear.
• The text column needs to be updated to refer to the correct product and version
  • The Thank you needs to be reworded.
  • The mention of OpenOffice.org in the first paragraph needs to be changed.
• There is no functional change, it is just static content that needs to be corrected.

Variations

• The different internationalizations
• Possible avoidance with installation from pre-built setup folders as on CD-ROMS, thumb drives, etc.

Selecting Setup Installation Location

Now it gets very confusing. When the "Select Folder" dialog comes up next, I immediately go into the Browse option. Here I am setting up a new folder in the same UNC location that I downloaded the installer to, identifying which installation I am using it with:

Observations

NOTE: I did not capture the Select Folder dialog before I browsed for a folder location. I will compensate for that after this screen. – dh:2011-12-20T02:06Z

• The browse to a folder to use has a straightforward dialog.
• Navigation onto the network, to a server, and then down to the folder is a bit cumbersome because this doesn't have an Explorer view.
• If I hadn't been doing this for a lot of OpenOffice-based installations, I would not know whether the folder I choose will receive files (yes) or will it receive a folder so it is safe to use a folder that already has other material (no).

Issues/Migration

• The title bar of the "Browse for Folder" dialog is fine, still using the download button.
• The text names the product and version and that needs to be changed.
• This is not really OpenOffice.org that is being installed. It is the setup that is being installed. That needs to be very clear (and another reason for reviewing the nomenclature).

Variations

• This examples uses a UNC location on a local-area file server.
• Installing setup on a CD-R/W drive might be interesting.
• Installing setup on a flash drive would also be useful.
• I assume that a CD-ROM install would already have the setup expanded into a folder that auto-run or a manual setup execution could use. It would be interesting to confirm that this is an easily-constructed variation for future re-install, installation on multiple systems, etc.

Unpacking the Setup Files

At this point, it is the setup files that are being installed, not OpenOffice.org itself. This is how that appears before the unpack is started:

Observations

• This dialog first appears with a default (pre-filled destination) that is on the users desktop. This is an absurd location:
  • Most users don't think of this as part of the file system (though some very naive users put everthing on their desktop).
  • There is no indication of the consequences of a particular choice or whether there is some special reason for defaulting to the desktop.
  • It is not cleaw whether the folder can be safely deleted without causing difficulties. At one point I found out that installing a later version would fail if the previous setup were removed, because it was needed to uninstall the previous version.
• For those reasons, I have adopted the practice of putting setup folders on a shared server location where I keep them for an extended period of time without cluttering my desktop.
• I have let this software train me to treat this as ordinary and, while I remark on it to myself every time I do an OO.o install, I have come to step through it without question.

Issues/Migration

• There's something off about involving users in this at all. And not knowing the reason for it and the consequences of choices is unfortunate.
• Dialog Elements
  • The product name needs to be changed in the title line of the dialog box.
  • The product name and version is mentioned twice in the instructions.
  • There is an OpenOffice.org logo and gull symbol in the top heading area.
  • There is a faint identifier of the Nullsoft Install System v2.37 that might need updating if not supplied automatically
  • The space-available number is not exactly right, since this is a virtualized file system with over 6 TB installed drive space with 4.4 TB free. This could be what is reported by the server, though.
• The setup folder is beiing placed at a UNC address and it should work well from there. Previous OO.o and LO releases operate with this just fine.
• Unless the setup files do have to be retained for some future purpose, the default destination should be to a generated temporary location and no alternative should be directly requested unless some minimum-space-available threshhold cannot be met. It would be useful to have a way to specify where the setup goes, but as an exception and not one that has casual users deal with a dialog for which the consequences of any choice are not understood.
• It is particularly important that users not be confused into thinking that this has anything to do with where Apache OpenOffice itself will be installed.

Variations

• none?

Unpacking the Setup

Now the setup files are being unpacked into a place where the setup can be run.

Observations

• This is simply the process that extracts the files from the installer into a folder of all of the artifacts that are needed for setup.
• It should have been easier to get here.

Issues/Migration

• The dialog title strip and the top titles are essentially the same as for the previous dialog. The name and summary message have changed. It is now about Unpacking.

Variations

• Click "Show details" and capturew the different stages that are gone through.
• Examine the unpacked folder of setup files and sub-folders.