Re: Want to write up quick balance sheet, etc. Via tables?

[Óscar Fuentes]

dkcombs@panix.com (David Combs) writes:

> Supper-late response:
>
> (1) Please explain, WHY is it unwise to install on Desktop?
>
>   (Your answer should of course appear in every book on windows!)

Desktop has limited (visual) space. It is intended for those items
(application shortcuts, folders, etc) that you access often. Having lots
of folders or icons on it defeats its purpose. It is also easy to
accidentally delete or move a Desktop element, more so when you have
lots of them.

You seldom (if ever) have to access the Emacs directory through the
Windows Explorer. Its only "interesting" element is the Emacs launcher
(runemacs.exe). It is much more practical to create a shortcut to that
element on Desktop than accessing it navigating through the Emacs
directory.

> (2) Where do YOU put applications, eg emacs, cygwin, putty, 
>     audacity, etc?

If the application comes with an installer it wil automatically do the
Right Thing, which is installing on one of the directories intended for
applications, either system-wide or user-specific. If the application
does not come with an installer (such as Emacs when distributed as a zip
file) and you are on Vista or newer, install it in your user directory
(c:\Users\Your-user-name) and create a shortcut to
emacs/bin/runemacs.exe on your Desktop. If you are on Windows XP chances
are that you are using an account with Administrator privileges, which
means that you can unzip on "Program Files".

HTH