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On 11/16/00 9:13 AM, Hager, Harry (US - East Brunswick) (hhager -at- dc -dot- com)
wrote:
>I've always considered this (using present tense) as one of the basic rules
>of technical writing.
>
>Am I wrong?
There's no right or wrong here, just choices and consistency, until you
usability test your documents and the results tell you you're wrong.
That said, I think all of your reasons for using the present tense are
good ones, but you left out my favorite:
Use the present tense because it's shorter.
In tech. writing, shorter is always better, as long as the needed
information is included. "Will open" is longer than "opens" and takes
more time to read. (For that matter, why say "allows you to" instead of
"lets you"? But that's just length, not future/present tense.)
Brevity is.
----->Mike
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