Do I Need to Remove Previous Version before Installing New?

[Hari Seldon]

Do I need to remove the previous version of OpenOffice, before I install the latest version? Some applications don't work as well when installed over top of the last version (remember ME).

If yes, then is the best way - Add or Remove Programs, or is there a cleaner way? Some applications offer Clean Tools that remove all unwanted registry keys etc...

And may I suggest that the answer to this question be prominently placed on the Release Notes and the Download pages: either
You Need to Uninstall the previous version before installiation of the latest version.
Or
You Do Not Need to Uninstall the previous version blah blah blah.

I looked. I couldn't find it mentioned anywhere. (Am I going blind?)


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Incremental Liberalism is change without informed consent.

[hol.sten]

[Hari Seldon]

Thanks hol.sten.
It should be clearly stated in the two locations I mentioned. How long does it take really, to type out one sentence?
Maybe the developers are spending too much time at the Kaiser Club?

The funny thing about this nearly obscure statement you found -
"Be aware: OOo 2.x replaces an earlier 2.0.x installation"
is that whoever thought it up and typed it, never thought to explain
why should we BEWARE?
Will something bad possibly happen?
Will important information be written over and lost forever?
Should we back up our previous installation just in case we want to return to it?
Why BEWARE? If there is nothing to be worried about, shouldn't it read "Note: OOo 2.x replaces an earlier 2.0.x installation"

And this I found in a ReadMe.txt file within the installation folder that you download:
"You can install OpenOffice.org 2.0 alongside of an older version of OpenOffice.org. If you later choose to deinstall the older version of OpenOffice.org, you must call the installation program of the newer version and choose 'Repair'. This ensures that the new version is correctly registered in your system"
What?
If one version installs over top of a previous version, then what do the developers mean by "alongside"? That to me means two installations side-by-side on the same system. Am I wrong to see "alongside" as meaning that?
In any case, this is a bit of a scary paragraph.
Maybe preceding this paragraph, someone should have added "Beware".

To be safe, and without clear directions from the Ooo team, I uninstalled the previous verision, used CCleaner, and then installed the new version. Until this is cleared up, that would be my recommendiation to anyone reading this post.

I wonder if anyone has had probelem installing a new version on top of (or alongside of - whichever it is) a previous version??


_________________
Incremental Liberalism is change without informed consent.