FirstOffice is shareware. Please support this wonderful way of trying before buying by actually buying. See below for how.
Quick Start
1) Put the FirstOffice folder somewhere convenient on your hard disk.
2) Make a copy of the Empty Company database, and name the company something sensible, like "SweetDreams 96" (if your company is called SweetDreams, and you start your accounting for 1996)
3) Double-click the FirstOffice icon to start. The program will ask you for a database. Select your company database and click "Open"
4) You're ready to go explore the system! Or read the included online manual. You can print it if you prefer your text on dead trees. It's perfectly OK to create many copies of the empty application and switch between them if you want to try out different things; just as you remember that when you register, you register one copy of the database.
5) If your empty company starts in demo mode, you can easily create a new company by doing this:
• Choose "Database" from the File menu.
• Click "Create".
• Set the name of the new company. You should have the file Default.txt in the same folder as you save the new company.
• Choose "Import" from the File menu.
• Select the Settings.txt file that is in the same folder as FirstOffice.
Demoware
FirstOffice comes with a ninety-day trial period. You may have full use of the program for ninety days without paying us a penny. After that, the program will enter demo mode, and will not allow you to print. It will also put up friendly reminder dialogs each time you start. You can still keep working with FirstOffice, however. Since FirstOffice General Ledger, the smallest version, doesn't have any documents to print, chances are you won't notice. We hope that, if you like it, you will like it enough to pay for it anyway.
Registering
To pay for FirstOffice, you first have to make sure your company name, address etc are set up correctly in Company Info; once you register these can't be changed. Open up the Company Settings window, check the information, close the window, and then open the Enabler settings window. There will be something called "Control Code" Write this number on a yellow post-it sticker and tape it on your monitor. (No, bright pink will not do :-)
Now, start the Register application that came with FirstOffice. Enter the number of copies that you want to buy of each product, and choose a payment method in the popup menu. If you think we are really cool for selling this software as shareware, add a bonus in the "Bonus" field. Now, tear the yellow post-it sticker off your screen, click the little comment bubble to the left of the program name you're registering, and enter "My Control Code is 1234567" (except replace 1234567 with the number that's written on the yellow post-it sticker)
OK the dialog, make sure your correct e-mail address is in the field for your e-mail address, print or save the registration info, and mail/fax it to shareware@kagi.com. It will take up to a week for your registration to clear through Kagi, and up to another week for us to provide you with a Key code (see below) so please don't delay until the last day of your 90-day trial period. (During holiday or high-volume season, we may get backlogged. At least if we get the kind of response we dream about on our company parties)
If you want to have a meaningful discussion with us, the mail address is <baltic@kagi.com> whereas our address for dead trees is:
Baltic Business Software, Inc.
4815 W Braker Ln
Suite 502-331
Austin, TX 78759-5618
We are also active on various online forums, such as the Internet News group "biz.comp.accounting", Compu$erve and AOL.
Because of the small operations of our company, we cannot provide phone support. We also can't teach you how to manage your business, or how accounting really works. We hope you understand, and we're sure you will enjoy using FirstOffice!
Disclaimer
Although every reasonable effort has been made to make sure the software works more or less as described in the manual, we cannot accept liability for any damage, whether direct, indirect or consequential, resulting from your use of this software. You have ninety days to try it out with no obligation; your sole remedy if it doesn't perform to your satisfaction is to quit using the software and delete it from your hard disk. We hope you understand.
