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Learning Software

My style of learning how to do things on the computer is to just do it. I find it very difficult to go through learning something from the bottom up.

So, what I do is just get started. At first I play around, like I'm doing now with this Pm Wiki software and then as I really learn what is going on, I can stop look back and decide if this is the way I want to continue or if I need something else to help me solve the problem. This is a good system for me because I really learn well from concrete examples. Now that I know how Pm Wiki works, I'll have a better perspective if I ever decide I need to move to a Wiki thing that better fits my needs.

The way modern software works,

The steps are then:

1. Make a fairly quick first stab at choosing the software you want to use.
2. Install it (if you can't install it or have second thoughts due to documentation or usability issues, just go make another fairly quick choice)
3. Begin working with it.
4. Note problems, questions and before you really begin to really get into it, decide if you think this particular choice will carry you through with what you need to do.

It is worth noting that a large class of software choices are availble for anything you might want to do. Tons of free things as well as software you can pay for. For web activities (such as blogging or wiki) there are lots of great pieces of software, however they often require a little more computer savvy than most users have who are used to installing software on their home computer but not a remote server. So if you know how to do this, or are willing to learn you have available a myriad of tools to try out. There are also countless pieces of software in all price ranges if the free stuff doesn't work for you. This is a great way to learn without any further outlays of cash.